Base-Ball: How to Become a Player: WITH THE ORIGIN, HISTORY, And Explanation of the Game (The RPress Books Vintage Baseball Collection)

HEARKEN back to a time before sports equipment, when “ballists” snagged grounders and fly balls with their bare hands, and when the pitcher’s mound was only thirty-five feet from home “base.” After 150 years, baseball continues to represent the best of the American spirit. As our nation split in a Civil War, sportsmanship, athleticism, respect for the rules of the game—all earmarks of the sport we call baseball—took on new meaning as young men gathered in grassy meadows to play the game we call America’s pastime. RPress Books is pleased to publish this first in a collection of classic base ball (base-ball) literature. In addition to "Base-Ball: How to Become a Player, " by John Montgomery Ward and Henry Chadwick’s "Beadle’s Dime Base Ball Player," the reader will also find in this publication a short story titled "The Redheaded Outfield" published in 1915 by renowned author Zane Grey, and a first chapter excerpt from "I Love Base Ball," a new, original story from the 2013 RPress Books “Batter Up” series. Also included are short biographies of authors Ward, Chadwick, and Grey.