1744-1760.
An early baseball player from A Pretty Little Pocket-Book,
Little Pretty Pocket Book was first published in 1744, although no copies from any of the first eight editions are known to have survived. The earliest surviving editions date from around 1760.
1791
Pittsfield, Massachusetts Ordinance,
#10 - Bylaw to prevent damage to new meeting house windows:
no ball games within eighty yards of the building.
At a legal Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Pittsfield qualified to
vote in Town Meetings, holden on Monday the fifth day of Sept 1791 __Voted,
The following ByeLaw, for the Preservation of the Windows in the New Meeting
House in said Town__ viz,
Be it ordained by the said Inhabitants that no person or Inhabitant of
said Town, shall be permitted to play at any game called Wicket, Cricket,
Baseball, Batball, Football, Cats, Fives or any other games played with
Ball, within the Distance of eighty yards from said Meeting House - And
every such Person who shall play at any of the said games or other games
with Ball within the distance aforesaid, shall for every Instance thereof,
forfeit the Sum of five shillings to be recovered by Action of Debt brought
before any Justice of the Peace to the Person who shall and prosecute
therefor -
And be it further ordained that in every Instance where any Minor shall be
guilty of a Breach of this Law, his Parent, Master, Mistress or guardian
shall forfeit the like Sum to be recovered in manner,and to the use
aforesaid -
1796
Diagrams illustrating the
games das deutsche Ballspiel (the German ball
game) on the left, and "ball with free station," or das englische Base-ball
(English base-ball), on the right, taken from the book Spiele zur Uebung und
Erholung, 1796. In the English base-ball diagram, the uppercase letters A
and B mark the home plate area, the numbers 1-5 indicate the bases, and the
lowercase letters a through e show the positioning of the defensive players.
In the German ball game, the two flags indicate the batting base and running
base, respectively. The four double crosses signify the author's suggested
base layout for a hybrid English-German ball game.
(Source: David Block)
1811
Diagram From Children's Book: 1811
(Source: David Block)
1816
An early reference to baseball stems from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, which is thought to have been begun circa 1798-99 and finished in 1803, but not published until 1816.
Source: Probert Encyclopaedia
1823
National Advocate, April 25, 1823
“I was last Saturday much pleased in witnessing a company of active young men playing the manly and athletic game of ‘base ball’ at the Retreat in Broadway [on the west side of Broadway between what nowadays is Washington Place and Eighth Street]. I am informed they are an organized association, and that a very interesting game will be played on Saturday next at the above place, to commence at half past 3 o'clock, P.M. Any person fond of witnessing this game may avail himself of seeing it played with consummate skill and wonderful dexterity.... It is surprising, and to be regretted that the young men of our city do not engage more in this manual sport; it is innocent amusement, and healthy exercise, attended with but little expense, and has no demoralizing tendency.”
1824
Conversations on Natural Philosophy in which The Elements of That Science are Familiarly Explained and Adapted to the Comprehension of Young Pupils
Emily. In playing at base-ball I am obliged to use all my strength to give a rapid motion to the ball; and when I have to catch it, I am sure I feel the resistance it makes to being stopped. But If I did not catch it, it owuld soon fall to the ground ans stop of itself.
1825
Delhi Gazette (NY), July 13, 1825
“The undersigned, all residents of the new town of Hamden, with the exception of Asa Howland, who has recently removed to Delhi, challenge an equal number of persons of any town in the County of Delaware, to meet them at any time at the house of Edward B. Chace, in said town, to play the game of Bass-Ball, for the sum of one dollar each per game. If no town can be found that will produce the required number, they will have no objection to play against any selection that can be made from the several towns in the county.”
Eli Bagley
Edward B. Chace
Harry P. Chace
Ira Peak
Walter C. Peak
H.B. Goodrich
R.F. Thurber
Asa C. Howland
M.L. Bostwick
1831
Writing tablet dating to 1831 and featuring an engraving of kids playing baseball, shooting marbles and spinning tops. It states "Good Penmanship is the neatest accomplishment of the Scholar" and belonged to John LaGrange, Jr. who signed the front cover and recorded his business dealings inside.
Source: Lelands.com