Plan B Forum

The first recorded game of baseball took place in Surrey in 1749, a specialist in the game's history says.



Author David Block has discovered the reference in the Whitehall Evening Post, dated 19 September 1749.

The Prince of Wales and the Earl of Middlesex played the game on what is now Ashley Park, Walton on Thames.

The previous earliest known mention of baseball was in William Bray's diary which referred to a game played in 1755 in Guildford.

The Whitehall Evening Post item reads: "On Tuesday last, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and Lord Middlesex, played at Bass-Ball, at Walton in Surry; notwithstanding the weather was extreme bad, they continued playing several hours."

The Earl of Middlesex, Charles Sackville, was an ally of Frederick, the Prince of Wales and before inheriting his title had served as an MP for Kent, East Grinstead and Sussex.

Julian Pooley, from the Surrey History Centre, said the discovery of the early reference to baseball in Surrey was "particularly exciting".

However, English baseball played in the 18th and 19th centuries was very different to the modern game popular in the US.

Mr Block said: "The ball was much softer than today's and instead of a bat, the palm of the batter's hand was used to strike the ball."

Baseball was mentioned in A Little Pretty Pocket-book, which was first published in 1744, however the earliest surviving copy is a 1760 edition.

Early references to baseball being played in the United States include "playing at base" at an army camp at Valley Forge in 1778.

By the 1820s the Rochester Baseball Club (New York) had about 50 members.

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was founded in 1871.

American poet Walk Whitman described baseball as "our game, that's the chief fact in connection with it: America's game".

American poet Walk Whitman

The first recorded game of baseball took place in Surrey in 1749, a specialist in the game's history says.

MARCH MEADENESS


To Mrs. George G. Meade

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., March 1, 1862.

Yesterday was a very disagreeable day, extremely cold, with a very high wind, and blustering weather. I was obliged to expose myself, standing in the wind from 9 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon, mustering the several regiments of my brigade.

We are all in the dark as to where or in what direction we march. I surmise (this is entre nous) that a force will be crossed below Alexandria, while Banks threatens Winchester and we advance on Centreville. If we can once get in their rear, I think we will have a comparatively easy victory, and we have so large a force that I do not see any difficulty in effecting this operation.

The morale of the men is superior to that of the rebel army, which remains in positions that are quite untenable in face of our overwhelming resources of men and materiel. Despite the grimness of the elements, our forces retain a cheerful disposition, though with overmuch gambling at cards and rather less thankfulness to our Maker than is appropriate. Your ears would blush to hear some of the language with which they chafe each other.

This very morning a group of cavalry from New York passed nearby, and was treated to the usual disdain with which our infantry regards the beau sabreurs. “Come out from under those hats!” they shouted, “we can see your legs a-dangling down!”, and other less salubrious comments. I had to send Kuhn to prevent fisticuffs, but such was the animosity of the rivals, that it was necessary to divert them into less warlike competition.

Since the men have become fond of a game I invented called “peach basket”, I had each group form teams representing New York and Pennsylvania. The object of the game is to throw a gutta percha ball through a peach basket with the bottom removed, which is nailed high in a tree. In no time, the men largely forgot their hostility and entered into the full spirit of healthful exercise. One cavalryman caused great hilarity when he wrapped a towel around his head, and used some half-burnt sticks from last night’s fires to blacken his face and hands. He solemnly declared that he was a wizard from Araby, by name Kowell Abdul Jabar, which no amount of infantry could overwhelm. Despite this amusing performance, the man played the game most indifferently and retired in the early minutes, claiming injury.

I am proud to tell you that after an hour of exertion, my men outscored the cavalry by 22 peach baskets to 17. Regrettably, after the troopers rode off, some of our soldiers discovered that valuables had dislodged from their jackets, which they had carelessly cast aside during the game. Kuhn and I were puzzled that a diligent search of the ground yielded not so much as a penny piece.

However, I noted that these jackets were much smudged by charcoal, indicating too close a proximity to the campfires in these cold nights. I had Kuhn publish an order for the men to maintain a distance of 6 feet from any blaze, as the expense of replacing burned uniforms is an imposition upon government, to be recouped by subtraction from their pay.