Thefascinating,true,storyofbaseball’samateurorigins.“Explorestheconditionsandfactorsthatbegatthegameinthe19thcenturyandturneditintothenationalpastime....Adelightfullookatayoungnationcreatingapastimethatwaslovefromthefirstcrackofthebat.“--PaulDickson,TheWallStreetJournalBaseball’struefoundersdon’thaveplaquesinCooperstown.Thefounderswerethehundredsofuncreditedamateurs--ordinarypeople--whoplayedwithoutgloves,facemasksorperformanceincentivesinthemiddledecadesofthe19thcentury.Unliketoday’sproathletes,theylivedfulllivesoutsideofsports.Theyworked,builtbusinessesandfoughtagainsttheSouthintheCivilWar.Butthat’snotthewaythestoryhasbeentold.Thewrongnessofbaseballhistorycanbestaggering.YoumayhaveheardthatAbnerDoubledayorAlexanderCartwrightinventedbaseball.Neitherdid.YoumayhavebeentoldthataclubcalledtheKnickerbockersplayedthefirstbaseballgamein1846.Theydidn’t.Youhavereadthatbaseball’scolorlinewasuncrossedandunchallengeduntilJackieRobinsonin1947.Nope.Youhavebeentoldthattheclean,corporate1869CincinnatiRedStockingswerebaseball’sfirstprofessionalclub.Nottrue.Theyweren’tthefirstprofessionals;theyweren’tallthatclean,either.YoumayhaveheardCooperstown,Hoboken,orNewYorkCitycalledthebirthplaceofbaseball,butnotBrooklyn.YetBrooklynwasthehomeofbaseball’sfirstfans,thefirstballpark,thefirststatistics--andmodernpitching.Baseballwasoriginallysupposedtobeplayed,notwatched.ThischangedwhencrowdsbegantoshowupatgamesinBrooklyninthelate1850s.Wefansweren’tinvitedtotheparty;wecrashedit.Professionalismwasn’tpartoftheplaneither,butwhenan1858BrooklynversusNewYorkCityseriesaccidentallyprovedthatpeoplewouldpaytoseeagame,thewritingwasontheoutfieldwall.Whenthefirstprofessionalleaguewasformedin1871,baseballwasalreadyafullyformedmodernsportwithchampionships,mediacoverage,andfamousstars.Professionalbaseballinventedanorganization,butnotthesportitself.Baseball’samazingamateurshadalreadydonethat.ThomasW.Gilbert’shistoryisforbaseballfansandanyonefascinatingbyhistory,Americanculture,andhowgreatthingsbegan.
AMERICANCULTURE HAPPENED GILBERT BASEBALL true
