[Archive]

Posted By: Corey R. Shanus

A interesting item I recently acquired was a first edition of a book published in 1796 in Germany. The book, titled "Games for the Exercise and Recreation of Body and Spirit for Youth" and written by arguably the most influential German author about children's games, describes in detail many different games children played at that time. In it is a section on what is described as "Ball with free station (or English Base-ball)." About 7 pages plus a diagram are devoted to describing the rules of the game. These published rules, many of which apply today, predate by 49 years the Knickerbocker rules. To my knowledge this is the earliest publication of baseball rules, as well as the first published reference to the word "bat" in a baseball context. This book does as good a job as any of dispelling the fiction that Abner Doubleday had anything to do with the invention of baseball, or that baseball is American in origin. Whether baseball was actually played in Germany in the 18th century is a matter of debate, as it is clear by their description that these rules came from the game played in England.