Ball and Bat Games

Striking a ball with a bat reaches far back in the history of games and is illustrated in Spanish medieval times by woodcuts from the ‘Vidal del Ysopet’, which depict the life and writings of Aesop in 1489.

In the Ball Games of the World Exhibit/ Website 22 ball and bat games are presented and they can be categorized into three forms based on their structure of play.  The first are base-ball games where the ball is struck and the batter runs to a base of safety leading to scoring runs.  Cricket, American baseball, and pesappallo (Finish baseball) are examples.

A second category of ball and bat games are games where the objective is to drive a ball into an opponent’s goal.  These games can be played on foot as in Irish hurling, on skates as in the Scandinavian game of bandy or on horseback as in polo.

A third category of ball and bat games require the ball to be batted or struck to a target.  The target may be through a wicket as in croquet, to a hole in the ground or on a table such as golf and billiards, and to a post set in the floor as in the Dutch game of kolven.

Base-ball Games

Stoolball 

The evolution of base-ball has taken many forms over the past four centuries.  On of the earliest forms of base-ball in England was call ‘Doutee Stool’, later to be named stool-ball. In the early version of ‘Doutee Stool’ the bowler (pitcher) attempts to hit a three-legged stool used for milking with a ball while the defender (batter) attempts to hit the ball away with his hand. Each successful defense by the batter using only his had scores ‘one’, if the stool is struck by the ball, the players change places and duties.  This game evolved into a team sport with two stools or targets places a distance apart and with the defender of the stool using a bat. When the ball is batted, the batter runs to the opposite stool where there is a safe zone, the batter’s teammate stationed opposite the batter must run to the opposite safe zone to score a run. If the batter or his teammate is caught out of the safe zone or hits a ball that is caught in the air, then the batter is out. The game is the forerunner of cricket.  (Cassell’s 1893)

Cricket  

Cricket is a form of base-ball where there is a batting side and a defending side of 11 players. In cricket 10 players bat in consecutive order until all are put out.  Like stool-ball there is a batter who defends the wicket or stumps while attempting to hit the ball and run to the opposite stumps.  The batter’s teammate stationed at the opposite set of stumps runs in the opposite direction after the ball is struck.  If both make it to the ‘crease’ or safe zone, then a run is scored.  Four runs can be scored if the batter hits the ball on the ground over the boundary line on the oval pitch. If the batter hits the ball in the air over the boundary line, then six runs are scored. In a ‘test’ match, where batter bat in two innings, it is possible to score a 100 or more runs, this is referred as a ‘century’.  Batters can be put out (run out) by the defense throwing the ball and hitting the stumps or by touching the stumps before the running makes it to the crease. Batters can also be put out when a defender catches a ball in the air (caught out). Another way a batter can make an out is for the batter to block the wicket with his leg (leg before wicket).

The first complete set of rules appeared in 1744.  In 1787, Thomas Lord and a number of enthusiasts form the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the games more authoritative institution.

The game and cultural diffusion of cricket spread throughout the British Empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, first when the British expelled the French from Canada and India and then through extending their rule over much of the African continent.  “To the ends of the earth cricket followed the flag. It became more than a game, it became an institution, a passion, one might suggest a religion.  It had got into the blood of the nation, deeply ingrained into the culture.  Whenever British men and women gather there will be stumps, batters, and bowlers.”  With the cultural diffusion of cricket all over the British Empire, the game also became a means for the ruled and oppressed to express their fierce nationalistic emotions that fortified their separate identity. An example of this played out when the Australians four years earlier beat the British, then in again beat the British on their home soil in London in 1882. This stimulated the ‘Sporting Times’ of London to add a legend to the history of sport.  The news paper printed a mock obituary.

“In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at the Oval on 29^th August, 1882.  Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P., N.B. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.”  

Since then, the “Ashes”, physically represented by a large silver urn, has symbolized victory in a test match between England and Australia. This defeat of the of the British in cricket gave the ruled and oppressed in such places as India, South Africa, the British West Indies, and Australia the opportunity and pleasure of “beating them at their own game” and ultimately leading to their independence. (Guttman, 1994)

Rounders

The game of rounders has been played in England since Tudor times, with the earliest reference being in 1774 in “A Little Pretty Pocketbook” where it was call ‘base ball’.  Most American baseball historians accept their sport evolved from rounders.  Rounders is the name used by Jane Austen in her book “Northanger Abbey”.  “The Boys Own Book” of 1828 devoted a whole chapter to the game.  In 1889 the Liverpool and Scottish Rounders Association was formed established the official rule, one of which was eliminating the practice of throwing and hitting a runner to put the runner out.  Today rounders is played by over two million school children in the United Kingdom. The rules are presented here to illustrate the similarities of rounders and American baseball.  The basic rules are as follows:

1. Games are played between tow teams of six to fifteen players.
2. Bowler have to bowl underarm at a height that is between the head and the knees of the batter and without letting the ball bounce.
3. A rounder (run) is scored if the runner reaches the 4^th post before another ball is bowled or the 4^th post is reached on a ‘no ball’.
4. A half rounder is scored if the 4^th post is reached without hitting a ball, the 2^nd post is reached after hitting a ball, if there is obstruction by a fielder or there are two consecutive ‘no balls’.
5. The most common ways to be put out is when the ball is caught in the air by a fielder, the runner is stumped out at a post before reaching the post, or the runner runs inside a post.
6. When the bowler has the ball in the bowler’s square, runners cannot run between posts. There cannot be more than one runner at each post. Runners must touch all four posts to get home and score a rounder.

 

Welsh Baseball

Welsh Baseball is a game that evolved from rounders and was re-named baseball in 1892. It has been largely confined to Cardiff and Newport, and further to the working-class sections of those towns. Sixty neighborhood clubs were playing in 1921, and the Cardiff schools formed a baseball league in 1922. In 2015, the Welsh Baseball website at https://www.welshbaseball.co.uk/ list only eight clubs in a Premier League, several of them evidently providing summer sport for local soccer clubs.

The game uses a smaller ball than is found in US baseball, features a flattened bat, underhand pitching, eleven aside teams, no foul ground, an all-out-side out rule, and two innings. Welsh Baseball is a game with deep roots in the working-class culture of Wales. To celebrate their culture as it relates to baseball, see the video below.

The current status of the game of Welsh Baseball demonstrating that culture is fluid and if not nurtured looses it’s hold on society as the BBC documentary shows, see the video below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/baseball/45352910

Pesapallo (Finnish Baseball)

Pesapallo is a direct translation of the American word baseball: Pesa is Finnish for base and pallo means ball. Pesapallo is the national game of Finland.  It is a combination of traditional ball-batting teams games and American baseball.  The game was first developed by Lauri “Tahko” Pihkala in the 1920’s and now is over 100 years old.  The game changed with the times and has grown in popularity. It’s success as a spectator sport is based on the unique combination of skills, strategic cognition, athleticism and teamwork.  One unique difference between Pesapallo and American baseball is the direction of first base, the base paths start with the runner running to the left, then diagonally across to second base, then straight across to third base, then to home base see diagram below.

The rules of the game are quite complicated, but the idea of the game is simple. One team tries to score by hitting the ball and running through the bases, the other team tries to defend by catching the ball and putting the runners out. The key to the game and the most important difference between Pesapollo and American baseball is the vertical pitching. Here the pitcher tosses the ball above a round plate on the ground. This makes hitting the ball, as well as controlling the power and direction of the hit much easier. This gives the offensive game much more variety, speed and tactical dimensions than in baseball. The fielding team is forced to counter the batter’s choices with defensive schemes and anticipation, and the game becomes a mental challenge.

The manager has an important role in pesapallo. The offensive and defensive strategies include several prepared plays for every situation. The manger leads his team’s offense by giving signals to the players with a multicolored fan. The defensive team play is directed by the manager’s orders and hand signals to the fielders. Thanks to the continuous communication, decision making and seamless co-operation on the field makes the game a demanding and interesting team sport, suitable for the modern information era.

Summary of the Rules

The modern game is played in two periods of four innings each. A period is won by the team which scores more runs in its offensive half-innings. If each team wins one of the periods, the game is decided by an extra period that consist of one inning.
During an inning both teams take turns playing offense (batting) and defense (fielding). The defensive team has nine players while on the field. The offensive team can use two jokers (designated hitters) during one half-inning in addition to the nine players in the regular batting order. The offensive team can continue batting until three players have been put out or one round of the batting order has been completed without any runs scored.

The batter and pitcher face each other in the home base, on opposite sides of the circular plate. The pitch is delivered by throwing the ball directly upward above the plate, to a height of at least one meter over the head of the pitcher.

The batter has three strikes available on his turn at bat. A fair hit does not force him to advance; he can use all three strikes at bat before becoming a runner. A pitch counts as a strike, if the batter takes a swing at the ball of if the umpire rules the pitch legal. If the pitcher delivers a bad pitch (ball), the batter is granted a walk to the first base only if the field is empty. If there are runners on the bases, the lead runner is granted a walk to the next base if there is a second bad pitch. A pitch is ruled bad if the ball does not fall on the plate, or if the pitch is to low or if the pitcher commits a violation.

A hit is foul, if the ball lands on the field outside the boundary lines. The batter or runner cannot advance on a foul ball. If a fielder catches the ball before it lands, the hit is a catch, and all runners who try to advance on the play are caught, players caught are removed from the field.

After a batter hit the ball and becomes a runner, he must try to advance safely to first base. If the ball get to first base before the runner, the runner is out. The batter is also out if on his third strike he hits a foul ball.
The offensive team scores a run, when a runner returns safely to home base after advancing through all three field bases. If a batter reaches third base after hitting a fair ball, he is granted a home run. He can then stay on third base and try to score again by reaching home base on a later play.

American Baseball, Origins and Evolution

 The term base ball was first recorded in 1744. It was the name used in the south of England for the game generally known as rounders. This game was played by a batter against a pitcher, a catcher, and preferably two or more additional fielders, the batter hitting the soft ball with a flat-bladed bat and having to circle (round) two base posts to score a run.  Each player tried to stay in at bat and score as many runs as possible, as in cricket.  Bat, ball, and base are very old words: bat means a club since before the 10^th century, ball is a 13^th century word, and base has been used in various children’s games since the 15^th century.  The rounders ball had to be soft because outs were made by throwing the ball and hitting the batter as he ran around the base posts.  In America the game was know as base (an American soldier wrote of “playing at base” at Valley Forge in 1778), stick ball (1823), goal ball and round ball (1830s), barn ball (1840s), and one old cat, two old cat, three old cat, or four old cat (1850s), the number of cats referred to the number of bases.

In New England before the 1820s, the game was being played on village greens. The players paired off into two teams, used four bases instead of two posts (bases were still often referred to as goals), and counted a circuit of four bases as one tally. This more adult version of the game was called town ball or the Massachusetts game.

In the late 1830s someone had the bright idea of forcing the runner out by throwing the ball to the base ahead of the runner or by tagging the runner with the ball rather than throwing the ball at the runner.  Since the runner was no longer hit (plugged) with the ball, a harder ball could now be used, where the pitcher could throw faster and the batter could hit farther. The new way of making outs and longer hits meant that some fielders had remain in to cover bases while other had to play farther out to catch long hits.

In 1845 the New York City Knickerbockers Ball Club introduced a code of rules for this new game hard ball: the bases were to form a 90-foot square, ball were in play only when hit in or over the square, three strikes (missed swings or fouled-off strikes) were an out, and three out retired the side, base runners could be tagged out or thrown out, but not hit with the thrown ball; modern baseball was born. Since the rules were drawn up by the New York Knickerbocker Ball Club, the game was called the New York game or New York base ball. The first game under the new rules was played at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1846 between the Knickerbockers and the New York Nine (the first recorded use of nine to mean a baseball team). By 1851 New York area teams formed a base ball association (league) using the new rules.

During the Civil War, New York and New Jersey regiments spread this modern version of baseball to other Union troops, and the popularity of the game mushroomed. During that time, too (in 1863), called strikes and walks came into existence; up to then a batter could take an unlimited number of pitches, strikes being only those the batter swung at and missed or fouled off, and balls not being called at all.  A batter often took an unlimited number of pitches until he got one, he liked.  Now the called strikes and walks speeded up the game and helped make it more popular.  All players at this time were still amateur gentlemen players, playing for fun, often as part of a large gentlemen’s social or sporting club.

In 1867, players started talking about the first base ball tour, which had the Washington D.C., Nationals playing other gentlemen’s team as far away as St. Louis.  At this time the gentlemen plyers were not happy as paid players (semiprofessionals) were in their minds ruining the game.  It all began when a Rockford, Illinois, team of 1868 started paying salaries to some expert players to join their unpaid gentlemen players.  In 1869 the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first all professional team, hiring players to play fulltime and touring when on tour from New York City to San Francisco without loosing a game the whole season. Of course, they were only playing against amateur gentlemen’s teams.  This nationwide tour could only take place due the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. This tour was so successful that within two years professional baseball way sweeping the country with professional teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington. By 1871 baseball had become America’s first mass spectator sport and sports industry. In the late 1880s Americans first started spelling base ball in the modern way, as one word, baseball. By 1908 the game as our national pastime became ingrained in our culture as illustrated in song when Jack Norworth and Albert van Tilzer composed “Take Me Out to the Ball-Game”.

Take me out to the ball-game,
Take me out to the park.
Buy me some peanuts and
Cracker-Jacks,
I don’t care if I never come back.
Let me root root root for the home team,
If they don’t win it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes,
“You’re out!” at the old ball-game.

Baseball historically has been referred to as our national pastime. Today it may not be the most popular sport in America, but baseball has a cultural legacy through the words associated with the game, but word that have permeated other sports and all walks of American life. In sport, such words as league, series, home team, manager, and post-season game, all first popularized by baseball.  Some of the baseball terms that widely used in modern life are words such as goose egg (zero, no score, a baseball term from 1866), other terms or metaphors as play ball (cooperate, 1901), keep (one’s) eye on the ball (stay alert, 1907), to have something on the ball (have desire and ability to succeed, 1912), to be off base (be crazy or wrong, 1912), right off the bat (immediately, 1910), to go to bat for (to defend or support someone, 1916), to be in there pitching (keep trying, keep working, 1930s), to take a rain check (to accept or do at another time, 1930s), or say someone has a strike against him (a reason to fail or be disliked, 1940s). Thus, baseball fan or not, when you talk you probably use baseball terms, and when you listen to America you hear baseball. To hear America, you have to first know “who’s on first”.

To also understand America, see Ken Burn’s documentary “Baseball” excerpt below.

 

Games of Softball

Chicago Softball

Nanshiki Baseball (Japan)

 

Nashiki (soft formula) rubber baseball is a game originated in Japan and its ball was made of soft material such as rubber.  Baseball is a game that was imported from the United States in the Meiji era and spread among young people throughout the country.  It became a flower-shaped sport triggered by the national secondary championship baseball tournament held in 1915 (Taisho 4^th year).  At this time, the children who did not use hard balls (leather covered) enjoyed baseball with tennis balls.  These balls however were not advantageous due to their light weight, no speed, and lack of durability. To allow children to enjoy baseball both safely and easily, a rubber ball used for the game was developed. By 1919 (Taisho 8^th year), a rubber baseball tournament was held at the elementary school (after post-war, it became a junior high school) in Kyoto.

This then was the start of the rubber baseball and the ball were sold in shops giving access to an ever-increasing population of juvenile players. In 1920 (Taisho 14^th year), the “Dainippon Shonen Baseball association” was establish in Kobe and led to a nationwide tournament. In 1929 (Showa 4^th year), the “Japan Nanshiki (rubber ball) Baseball Association was formed for the general public and the game became a citizen sport.

Although the game was temporarily stopped during World War II, the All Japan Rubber Baseball Federation was established in 1946 (Showa 21^st year) and the game became a main event in the National Sports Festival.

By 1970, (Showa 45^th year), age group tournaments from elementary to junior high students reached full-scale.  Now there are over 2.1 million players, including 36,845 teams for social work, 20,284 teams for juveniles, and teams from universities and vocational schools.

The balls vary in sizes (3) related to the age and gender of the player.

American Softball, 12” and 16”

 

Although many people assume that softball was derived from baseball, the sport’s first game actually came about because of a football game. The history of softball dates back to Thanksgiving Day of 1887, when several alumni sat in the Chicago, Illinois Farragut Boat Club, anxiously awaiting the tickertape outcome of the Yale versus Harvard football game. When Yale was announced as winner, a Yale alumnus playfully threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. The Harvard fan swung at the balled-up glove with a stick, and the rest of the group looked on with interest. George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, jokingly called out, “Play ball!” and the first softball game commenced with the football fans using the boxing glove as a ball and a broom handle in place of a bat.

 

Due to the initial excitement surrounding the game, the Farragut Boat Club decided to officially devise their own set of rules, and the game quickly leaked to outsiders in Chicago and, eventually, throughout the rest of the Midwestern United States.  As the history of softball shaped itself over the next decade, the game went under the guise of “indoor baseball,” “kitten baseball,” “diamond ball,” “mush ball,” and “pumpkin ball.” In 1926, Walter Hakanson coined the term “softball” while representing the YMCA at a National Recreation Congress meeting, and by 1930, the term stuck as the sport’s official name.

In 1934, the Joint Rules Committee on Softball collaborated to create a set of standardized rules. Up until this point, the game was being played with varied rules, player positions, and ball sizes. The original softball used by the Farragut Boat Club was 16 inches in circumference. However, Lewis Rober Sr., the man responsible for organizing softball games for firefighters in Minneapolis, used a 12-inch ball. Rober’s ball won out as the preferred softball size, and professional softball games today are played using a 10–12-inch ball. However, many Chicagoans still hold fast to the belief that real softball is played using a 16-inch ball. Games using these 16-inch balls are often referred to as “cabbage ball,” “super slow pitch,” and “mush ball,” and unlike competitive softball, players are not allowed to wear fielding gloves.

While the sport was originally advertised as an indoor game for baseball players looking to maintain their dexterity during the off season, it gained so much popularity and recognition that it quickly became its own official sport. In 1991, women’s fast pitch softball was added to the roster of the 1996 Summer Olympics—a landmark many people recognize as the ultimate success of a sport. Although softball was later dropped from the 2012 Summer Olympics lineup, the game is still one of the most popular participant sports in the United States and 113 countries have officially joined the International Softball Federation since the organization’s formation in 1952.

According to the official rules developed early in the history of softball, and eventually defined by the International Softball Federation, there are nine players on the field at a time. The players take the positions of pitcher, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and outfielder. Usually, there are three outfielders holding the positions of right fielder, left fielder, and center fielder. However, slow pitch softball allows for a fourth person in the outfield. Similar to baseball, the team with the most runs at the end of the seventh inning is named the winner. However, if the teams are tied at the end of the seventh inning, the game can go into extra innings, until the tie is broken.

Today, softball is one of the most popular sports in the country, and an estimated 40 million Americans engage in at least one softball game each year. Because it can be played on either a field or an indoor arena, softball games are played year-round and involve teams with players as young as 8 years old and some players over 60 years in age.

American Stickball

Stickball is a street game related to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensy pinky, high bouncer or tennis ball. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation. For example, a manhole cover may be used as a base, or buildings for foul lines. The game is a variation of stick and ball games dating back to at least the 1750s. This game was widely popular among youths during the 20th century until the 1980s.