Xenoball

Last updated 12/1/2008

Xenoball:

Baseball-Like Games Played Outside English-Speaking Cultures

A Working Chronology

Note: This list was derived from version 10 of the full Protoball Chronology, which was uploaded in December 2008. (Search terms: Negro, black, colored, slaves) Additional relevant entries may have been added to any later versions of the full Chronology; not all entries on this subchronology are necessarily identical to those on the most recently updated full Chronology. Readers are encouraged to suggest or perform updates. Please send notes about omissions, mistakes, typos, etc, to lmccray@mit.edu. The numbered items on this sub-chronology are taken from the full Protoball Chronology at http://retrosheet.org/Protoball/chron.

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BC2500C.1 – “Tip cats” Found in Egyptian Ruins

Writing in 1891, Stewart Culin reported “the discorvery by Mr. Flinders-Petrie of wooden ‘tip cats’ among the remainsof Rahun, in the Fayoom, Egypt (circa 2500 B.C).” Culin infers that these short wooden objects, pointed on each end, were used in an ancient form of the game Cat.

Culin, Stewart, “Street Games of Boys in Brooklyn, N.Y.,” Journal of American Folklore, Volume 4, number 14 (July-September 1891), page 233, note 1. Note: Do contemporary archeologists agree that such items were evidence of play? Have they since found older artifacts that may be associated with cat-like games?

370C.1 – Saint Augustine Recalls Punishment for Youthful Ball Games

In his Confessions, Augustine of Hippo – later St. Augustine – recalls recalls his youth in Northern Africa, where his father served as a Roman official. “I was disobedient, not because I chose something better than [my parents and elders] chose for me, but simply from the love of games. For I liked to score a fine win at sport or to have my ears tickled by the make-believe of the stage.” [Book One, chapter 10]. In Book One, chapter 9, Augustine had explained that “we enjoyed playing games and were punished for them by men who played games themselves. However, grown up games are known as ‘business. . . . Was the master who beat me himself very different from me? If he were worsted by a colleague in some petty argument, he would be convulsed in anger and envy, much more so that I was when a playmate beat me at a game of ball.”

Saint Augustine’s Confessions, Book One, text supplied by Dick McBane, February 2008. Note: Can historians identify the “game of ball” that Augustine might have played in the fourth Century? Are the translations to “game of ball,” “games,” and “sport” still deemed accurate?

1310.1 – Documents Said to Describe Baseball-like Romanian Game of Oina

According to an otherwise unidentified clip in the Origins file at the Giamatti Center, an AP article datelined Bucharest Romania [and which appeared in the Oneonta Times on March 29, 1990], the still popular Romanian game of oina can be traced back to a [unspecified] document dating to the year 1310. The game itself “was invented by shepherds in the first century.”

The article is evidently based on an interview with Cristian Costescu, who sees baseball as “the American pastime derived from the ancient game of oina.” Oina reportedly has eleven players per side, an all-out-side-out rule, tossed pitches, nine bases describing a total basepath of 120 yards, plugging of baserunners, the opportunity for the fielding side to score points, and a bat described as similar to a cricket bat. Costescu is reported to have served as head of the Romanian Oina Federation in the years when baseball was banned in Romania as “a capitalist sport.”

The Oneonta Times headline is “Play Oina! Romanians Say Their Game Inspired Creation of Baseball.” Note: Can we find additional documentation of oina’s rules and history? Is the 1310 documentation available in English translation? Have others followed the recent fate of oina and the work of Costescu?

1600c.1 -- Austrian Physician Reports on Batting/Running Game in Prague; One of Two Accounts Cites Plugging, Bases in the Game “Gyula Hajdu”

[A] Guarinoni, Hippolytis, Greuel der Verwustung der menschlichen Gesschlechts [The horrors of the devastation of the human race], [Ingolstadt, Austrian Empire], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 167. Guarinoni describes a game he saw in Prague in 1600 involving a large field of play, the hitting of a small thrown ball [“the size of a quince”] with a four-foot tapered club, the changing of sides if a hit ball was caught, and, while not mentioning the presence of bases, advises that the game “is good for tender youth which never has enough of running back and forth.”

[B] “German Schlagball [“hit the ball”] is also similar to rounders. The native claim that these games ‘have remained the games of the Germanic peoples, and have won no popularity beyond their countries’ quite obviously does not accord with facts. It is enough to quote the conclusion of a description of “hit the ball” by H. Guarnoni, who had a medical practice in Innsbruck about 1600: ‘We enjoyed this game in Prague very much and played it a lot. The cleverest at it were the Poles and the Silesians, so the game obviously comes from there.’ Incidentally, he was one of the first who described the way in which the game was played. It was played with a leather ball and a club four-foot long. The ball was tossed by a bowler who threw it to the striker, who struck it with a club rounded at the end as far into the field as possible, and attempted to make a circuit of the bases without being hit by the ball. If ‘one of the opposing players catches the ball in the air, a change of positions follows.’”

Source: from page 111 of an unidentified photocopy in the “Origins of Baseball” file at the Giamatti Center of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The quoted material is found in a section termed “Rounders and Other Ball Games with Sticks and Bats,” pp. 110-111. This section also reports: “Gyula Hajdu sees the origin of round games as follows: ‘Round games conserve the memory of ancient castle warfare. A member of the besieged garrison sets out for help, slipping through the camp of the enemy. . . . ‘” “In Hungary several variants of rounders exist in the countryside.”

1609.1 – Polish Origins of Baseball Perceived in Jamestown VA Settlement

“For your information and records, I am pleased to inform you that after much research I have discovered that baseball was introduced to America by the Poles who arrived in Jamestown in 1609. . . . Records of the University of Krakow, the oldest school of higher learning in Poland show that baseball or batball was played by the students in the 14^th century and was part of the official physical culture program.”

Letter from Matthew Baranski to the Baseball Hall of Fame, March 23, 1975.

Note: Baranski himself cites First Poles in America 1608-1958, published by the Polish Falcons of America, Pittsburgh. We have not confirmed that sighting. The next Protoball reader finding himself/herself at Krakow might drop by the University?

David Block (page 169) identifies the source as Stefanski, Zbigniew, Memorial Commercatoris [A Merchant’s Memoirs], Amsterdam, 1625. A skilled Polish workingman wrote a memoir of his time in the Jamestown colony, and in an entry for 1609 describes how the Polish game of pilak palantowa (bat ball) was played before an audience including Native Americans.

1632.1 -- In Germany, “Playing Ball” Associated With Scabies, Other Diseases

“The [preceding] reference to Fuchsius should be to Institutiones 2.3.4: . . . ‘Whereby the habit of our German schoolboys is most worthy of reprehension, who never take exercise except immediately after food, either jumping or running or playing ball or quoits or taking part in other exercises of a like nature; so that it is no surprise, seeing they thus accumulate a great mass of crude humours, that they suffer from perpetual scabies, and other diseases caused by vicious humours’:p. 337)”

Burton, Robert E., The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. 4 [Clarenden Press, Oxford, 1989], page 285. [Note: We need to confirm date of the Fuschius quote; we’re not sure why it is assigned to 1632.]. Submitted by John Thorn, 10/12/2004.

1656.1 – Dutch Prohibit “Playing Ball,” on Sundays in New Netherlands.

Channing, Edward, A History of the United States [New York, 1905], volume 1, p. 536. Per Rhea, note #26, p. 394. Note: we need to cross-check the language against the recent James Zug citation; it may be a different source. Dean Sullivan, 7/24/2004, provides an additional citation: Ester Singleton, Dutch New York (1909), page 290. It would be useful to ascertain, with a knowledgeable source what Dutch phrase was translated as “playing ball,” and whether the phrase denotes a certain type of ballplay. The population of Manhattan at this time was about 800, and the area was largely a fur trading post. Is it possible that the burghers imported this text from the Dutch homeland?

1753.1 – NYS Traveler Notes Dutch boys “Playing Bat and Ball”

Gideon Hawley (1727-1807), traveling through the area where Binghamton now is, wrote: “even at the celebration of the Lord’s supper [the Dutch boys] have been playing bat and ball the whole term around the house of God.”

Hawley, Gideon, Rev. Gideon Hawley’s Journal [Broome County, NY 1753], page 1041. Collection of Tom Heitz. Per Patricia Millen, From Pastime to Passion [2001], page 2.

1760.2 – Bat and Ball . . . in Paris?

A description of Parisian sights: “The grand Walk forms a most beautiful Visto, which terminates in a Wood called Elysian Fields, or more commonly known by the name “La Cours de la Rein (Queen’s Course). This is the usual place where the Citizens celebrate their Festivals with the Bat and Ball, a Diversion which is much used here.” Prpvided by David Block, 2/27/2008. Note: Is this the same location as what we now know as the Champs Elysee? Can we learn what bat/ball games were so popular the mid 1700s – Soule? Some form of street tennis? A form of field hockey? Not croquet, presumably.

1790s.6 – Cricket as Played in Hamburg Resembled the U.S. Game of Wicket?

“[D]escriptions of the game [cricket] from Hamburg in the 1790s show significant variations often quite similar to outdated provisions of American “Wicket,” which may well not be due to error on the part of the author, but rather to acute observation. For example, the ball was bowled alternatively from each end (i.e. not in ‘overs’). Moreover, the ball has to be ‘rolled’ and not ‘thrown’ (i.e., bowled in the true sense, not the pitched ball). And the striker is out if stops the ball from hitting the wicket with his foot or his body generally. There is no more reason to believe that there was uniformity in the Laws coverning cricket in England, the British Isles, or in Europe than there was in weights and measures.” Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Grown and Development Throughout the World (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1970), page 72. Note: Bowen does not give a source for this observation.

1810c.1 – “Poisoned Ball” Appears in French Book of Games

The rules for “Poisoned Ball” are described in a French book of boy’s games: “In a court, or in a large square space, four points are marked: one for the home base, the others for bases which must be touched by the runners in succession, etc.”

Les Jeux des Jeunes Garcons [Paris, c.1810]. Per Henderson, note XXXXX Note: David Block, at page 186-187, dates this book at 1815 -- some of the doubt perhaps arising from the fact that the earliest [undated?] extant copy is a fourth edition. He notes that the French text does not say directly that a bat is used in this game; the palm may have been used to “repel” the ball.

To See the Text: David Block carries a three-paragraph translation of text in Appendix 7, page 279, of Baseball Before We Knew It.

1827.4 -- Poisoned Ball Listed in French Manual of Games

Celnart, Elizabeth, Manuel complet des jeux de societe (Complete manual of social games) [Paris, Roret], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 192. The material on “la balle empoisonee” is reported as “virtually identical” to that of the 1810 Les Jeux des juenes garcons, above at 1810. Note: Are any other safe-haven games listed? Other batting games?

1845.10 -- German Book of Games Lists das Giftball, a Bat-and-Ball Game

Jugendspiele zur Ehhjolung und Erheiterung (boys’ games for recreation and amusement) [Tilsit, Germany, W. Simmerfeld], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 207. Included among the games is das Giftball (the venomball, roughly). Block observes that this game “is identical to the early French game of la balle empoisonee (poison ball, roughly) and that an illustration of two boys playing it “shows it to be a bat-and-ball game.” For the French game, see the 1810 entry above. Note: does Block link the two descriptions, or does the German text cite the French game?

1846.14 – Baltic Rounders Game Traced to English Visitors

“In 1846 a three-master . . . from London stranded on the island. . . . The captain spent the winter with the local minister, and the sailors with the peasants. According to information given by a man named Matts Bisa, the visitors taught the men of Runö a new batting game. As the cry “runders” shows, his game was the English rounders, a predecessor of baseball. It was made part of the old cult game.”

Mehl [first name?], “A Batting Game on the Island of Runö,” Western Folklore vol 8, number 3, (1949?), page 268. This game was conserved on the island, at least until 1949. Note: wish we hadn’t dropped part of this citation.

1850c.8 -- Poisoned-Ball Text Recycled in France

Jeux et exercises des Jeunes garcons (Games and Exercises of Young Boys) [Paris, A. Courcier], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 213. The material on la balle empoisonee (poisoned ball) is repeated from Les jeux des jeunes garcons. See item #1810s.1 above.

1853.2 -- Dutch Handbook for Young Boys Covers “Engelsch Balspel,” Trap-ball, Tip-cat

Dongens! Wat zal er gespeld worden? (Boys! What Shall We Play?) [Leeuwarden, G. T. N. Suringar], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 215. A 163-page book of games and exercises for young boys, which Block finds is “loaded with hand-colored engravings.” The book’s section on ball games includes a translation of the 1828 rounders rules from The Boy’s Own Book (see 1828 entry, above), under the heading Engelsch balspel (English ball). A second game is De wip (the whip), a kind of trap ball. Also De kat, which Block identifies as English tip-cat.

1856.10 -- French Work Describes Poisoned Ball and La Balle au Baton

Beleze, Par G., Jeux des adolescents [Paris, L. Hachette et Cie], per David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, page 217. This author’s portrayal of balle empoisonee is seen as similar to its earlier coverage up to 40 years before; its major variant involves two teams who exchange places regularly, outs are recorded by means of caught flies and runners plugged between bases, and four or five bases comprise the infield. Hitters, however, used their bare hands as bats. Block sees the second game, la balle au baton, as a scrub game played without teams. The ball was put in play by fungo hits with a bat, and was reported to be most often seen in Normandie, where it was known as teque or theque. Note: what are the “other sources” for playing theque? Is it significant that this book features games for adolescents, not younger children?

Other Games That Need to Be Assessed, Confirmed, Dated

[1] Om El Mahag – The Berber Tribes of Africa. Corrado Gini says that this game is analogous to rounders and baseball. “Ritual Games in Libya,” Rural Sociology, 1939, pp. 283 ff.

[2] Tabeh – Tabeh is said to be similar to “base ball and drop ball.” H. H. Jessup, “The Women of the Arabs,” (Dodd Mead, 1873), pages 89-90.

[3] “Ballplaying” by Cherokees and Choctaws -- Notes taken by Harold Seymour refer to “ball play” by both tribes. One guesses that they played a form of lacrosse, but we need to verify this.

[4] Kopfspeel – It is said that “among the several types of Dutch +kopfspeel+ is one like rounders.” W. Endrei and L. Kolnay, “Fun and Games in Old Europe,” (Budapest, 1986) pages 110-111.

[5] Schlagball – It is said that “German +Schlagball+ (‘hit the ball’) is also similar to rounders.” W. Endrei and L. Kolnay, “Fun and Games in Old Europe,” (Budapest, 1986) pages 110-111. See also item #1600c.1, above.

[6] King ball -- Finnish baseball [“pesapallo”] is known to derive partly from American baseball in 1921, but accounts also say it owes some features to the Finnish game king ball, and we have no description of that earlier folk game.

[7] Lapta -- The Russian game of lapta, said to date from the 14^th century, involves batting and running so as to avoid plugging. Origins Committee member Kim Juhase is now gathering background information on this game.

Note: SABR member César Gomez reports that there is no known baseball-like game in Spanish history.

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