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Tuesday, May 11, 2004 |
And You Kids Better Pay For That Window!
Abner Doubleday almost certainly did not invent -- or even codify -- a primitive version of baseball's rules in 1839, as is commonly told, but he probably did manage to popularize it. The latest incarnation of the game's origins comes to us via the AP wire, and now Pittsfield, MA lays claim to the venerable game:
PITTSFIELD, Mass. - City officials and historians released a document Tuesday that they say shows baseball was being played in Pittsfield in the late 1700s, long before legend credits Abner Doubleday with drawing up the rules of the game.Now, the only question is, did the snake enter the Garden before or after the designated hitter rule? And is it true that Scott Boras tempted Jered Weaver with a $12 million apple?The evidence comes in a 1791 by-law to protect the windows in Pittsfield's new meeting house by banning anyone from playing baseball within 80 yards of the building.
"It's clear that not only was baseball played here in 1791, but it was rampant," said historian John Thorn, who was researching the origins of baseball when he found a reference to the law in an 1869 book on Pittsfield's history. "It was rampant enough to have an ordinance against it."
"Pittsfield is baseball's Garden of Eden," Mayor James Ruberto said.
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