History
The question of the origins of baseball has been the subject of debate and controversy for more than a century. Baseball and the other modern bat, ball and running games, cricket and rounders, were developed from earlier folk games in England.
Early forms of baseball had a number of names, including "Base Ball", "Goal Ball", "Round Ball", "Fletch-catch", "stool ball", and, simply, "Base". In at least one version of the game, teams pitched to themselves, runners went around the bases in the opposite direction of today's game, and players could be put out by being hit with the ball. Then as now, a batter was called out after three strikes.
Stoolball
Origins of Stoolball:
In stoolball, which developed by the 11th century, one player throws the ball at a target while another player defends the target. "Stob-ball" and "stow-ball" were regional games similar to stool ball. In stob ball and stow ball the target was probably a tree stump, since both "stob" and "stow" mean stump in some dialects. ( "Stow" could also refer to a type of frame used in mining). What the target originally was in stool ball is not certain. It could have been a stump, since “stool” in old Sussex dialect means stump.
According to one legend, milkmaids played stoolball while waiting for their husbands to return from the fields. Another theory is that stool ball developed as a game played after attending church services, in which case the target was probably a church stool.
Originally, the stool was defended with a bare hand. Later, a bat of some kind was used (in modern stool ball, a bat like a very heavy table tennis paddle is used).
Clear regional variation:
There were several versions of stool ball. In the earliest versions, the object was primarily to defend the stool. Successfully defending the stool counted for one point, and the batter was out if the ball hit the stool. There was no running involved. Another version of stool ball involved running between two stools, and scoring was similar to the scoring in cricket. In perhaps yet another version there were several stools, and points were scored by running around them as in baseball.
Because of the different versions of stool ball, and because it was played not only in England, but also in colonial America, stool ball is considered by many to have been the basis of not only cricket, but both baseball and rounders as well.
Origins of Stoolball:
In stoolball, which developed by the 11th century, one player throws the ball at a target while another player defends the target. "Stob-ball" and "stow-ball" were regional games similar to stool ball. In stob ball and stow ball the target was probably a tree stump, since both "stob" and "stow" mean stump in some dialects. ( "Stow" could also refer to a type of frame used in mining). What the target originally was in stool ball is not certain. It could have been a stump, since “stool” in old Sussex dialect means stump.
According to one legend, milkmaids played stoolball while waiting for their husbands to return from the fields. Another theory is that stool ball developed as a game played after attending church services, in which case the target was probably a church stool.
Originally, the stool was defended with a bare hand. Later, a bat of some kind was used (in modern stool ball, a bat like a very heavy table tennis paddle is used).
Clear regional variation:
There were several versions of stool ball. In the earliest versions, the object was primarily to defend the stool. Successfully defending the stool counted for one point, and the batter was out if the ball hit the stool. There was no running involved. Another version of stool ball involved running between two stools, and scoring was similar to the scoring in cricket. In perhaps yet another version there were several stools, and points were scored by running around them as in baseball.
Because of the different versions of stool ball, and because it was played not only in England, but also in colonial America, stool ball is considered by many to have been the basis of not only cricket, but both baseball and rounders as well.