{"id":876,"date":"2008-12-19T16:36:56","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T23:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/19\/the-massachusetts-game\/"},"modified":"2008-12-19T19:15:56","modified_gmt":"2008-12-20T02:15:56","slug":"the-massachusetts-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/19\/the-massachusetts-game\/","title":{"rendered":"The Massachusetts Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 19th<\/sup> century, there were two different sets of rules for baseball. The \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcKnickerbocker Rules\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, created by Alexander Cartwright in 1845, was played predominantly by New Yorkers and is the considered the basis for the modern rules of baseball. The other type of baseball was popular in New England with amateur teams and went by the name \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Massachusetts Game\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.
\n Closely related to the version of Town Ball, the rules were created by the Massachusetts Association of Base Ball Players in Denham, Massachusetts sometime during the year of 1858. Games played under these rules were often high scoring affairs. The first intercollegiate baseball game, played between Amherst College and Williams College in 1859, had a final score of 73-32 playing under Massachusetts Rules.<\/p>\n

So why were these games such high-scoring? One of the more abundant reasons was there was no foul territory and the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcstriker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (the batter) could place the ball anywhere he wanted. One of the best hits a striker could do was to tip the ball over the catcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head, where there were often no fielders. Another reason why scoring was high was the closeness of the bases. The bases were set 60 feet apart in a square, with the striker standing in between first and home plate, a mere 30 feet to first base. After the ball was put in play, the runner also did not have to stay on the base path to avoid a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsoaking\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 from the fielder.<\/p>\n

A \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsoaking\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 was the only way a fielder could get a runner out. In modern terms, a soaking is hitting the base runner with the ball, which often turned the games into a game of dodge ball between fielder and runner. The ball was lighter then a usual baseball, 2 \u00c2\u00bd ounces to 5 ounces, so the ball did not hurt as much when you were struck by it. Tagging the runner with the ball in your glove was not allowed and the runner would be ruled safe if that occurred.<\/p>\n

The only other way the fielders could get the striker out was by catching the ball in flight. Under the New York rules at the time, fielders could still make an out by catching the ball on a one bounce. Because of the offensively-minded rules, teams were allowed anywhere from 10 to 14 \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbasetenders\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcscouts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (now known as infielders and outfielders), but the normal number per side was often settled at 11. Also to help the defense out, only one out was needed to retire the hitting team, opposed to the three needed in the New York and now, modern game. Still, scores were very high.<\/p>\n

Modern day pitching derives from the Massachusetts Game more so then Cartwright\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s New York game. While over handed pitching was disallowed under Knickerbocker Rules, it was the only way the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcthrower\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 could deliver a pitch under Massachusetts rules. Overhand pitching was not legalized in Major League Baseball until 1884. The \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcthrower\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 stood 35 feet away from \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcstriker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on a parallel line to the batters box. \u00c2\u00a0A newspaper article from 1856 stated of the overhand pitching:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The ball was thrown, not pitched or tossed\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it was thrown, and with vigor, too, that made it whistle through the air with a solid smack in the catcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Under the rules, games would be played to 100 \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctallies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or runs. Matches under these rules often resulted in marathon-type games. The Amherst-Williams game took 26 innings to play. 27 days later, a game between Medway and Upton took 211 innings to play before Medway finally scored their 100th<\/sup> tally. In 1860, Medway and Upton met again at the Worcester Fair Grounds and after seven days of play, Upton prevailed. The total time of the game fell 10 minutes short of 22 hours.<\/p>\n

Games played under the Massachusetts Rules hit its peak during the Civil War years and were often played by soldiers. Soldiers from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania played the game and its popularity spread over the Mason-Dixon Line.\u00c2\u00a0 A game of baseball was recorded during an important moment at the end of the Civil War. After Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union soldiers at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, soldiers from both played a game under Massachusetts Rules to pass the time.<\/p>\n

However, while the game was popular in the battle zones, the New York-style game was becoming more and more well-liked among professional and amateur teams. The final nail in the coffin for the game was when the Excelsior Club of Brooklyn, one of the best in the five boroughs, traveled up to Massachusetts and won two games handily over strong local clubs. After this, many teams began converting to and playing by the Knickerbocker Rules. Eventually, when the National Association was founded in 1871, the league chose to use New York rules and eventually, those rules were standardized to be our national pastime.<\/p>\n

In the early part of the 20th<\/sup> century, baseball games in western England and Wales were played with rules similar to those of the Massachusetts Game. Some organizations played baseball under vintage rules and played the Massachusetts Game during the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc80s and early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc90s before abandoning it for the Knickerbocker version. Today, a few still do, notably the Leatherstocking Base Ball Club in Cooperstown, who suit up for a Massachusetts-style game every Sunday. However, while these clubs keep the games\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rules active, the Massachusetts Game has been dead since the formation of the National Association in 1871.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 19th century, there were two different sets of rules for baseball. The \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcKnickerbocker Rules\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, created by Alexander Cartwright in 1845, was played predominantly by New Yorkers and is the considered the basis for the modern rules of baseball. The other type of baseball was popular in New England with amateur teams and went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}