Jordan, J. The Origination of Baseball and Its Stadiums 1 Running header: THE ORIGINATION OF BASEBALL AND ITS STADIUMS The Origination of Baseball and Its Stadiums: Wrigley Field Justin A. Jordan North Carolina State University Landscape Architecture 444 Prof. Fernando Magallanes December 7, 2012 Jordan, J. The Origination of Baseball and Its Stadiums 2 Abstract Baseball is America’s Pastime and is home for some of the most influential people and places in the USA. Since the origination of baseball itself, fields and ball parks have had emotional effects on Americans beginning long before the creation of the USA. In this paper, one will find the background of the sport and how it became as well as the first ball parks and their effects on people in the USA leading up to the discussion about Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Jordan, J. The Origination of Baseball and Its Stadiums 3 Baseball. This one word could represent the American pastime and culture. Many believe it to be as old as dirt. Peter Morris in his book, Level Playing Fields, explains “Baseball is sometimes said to be older than dirt. It is one of those metaphors that sounds silly on its face but that still resonates because it hints at a deeper truth. In this case, the deeper truth is that neither baseball nor dirt is quite complete without the other” (Morris, 2007). Morris practically says that baseball cannot thrive without proper fields to play on or parks to play in. Before describing early playing fields and stadiums in baseball, one must know where the sport and idea originated from in the first place. Little is known about the origination of baseball as a sport. Some believe the sport originated from the medieval Romans. Other sports such as 1cricket and 2rounders are believed to have influenced the creation and adaptation of baseball. According to baseball-reference.com, baseball more than likely was born from folk games in the British Isles stating “A number of early folk games in the British Isles had characteristics that can be seen in modern baseball (as well as in cricket and rounders). Many of these early games involved a ball that was thrown at a target while an opposing player defended the target by attempting to hit the ball away.” Since games were not very well documented, the origination of the sport is still very much a mystery. These old sports were not extremely popular among the higher classes of society and for that reason were not documented and kept up with for future view. These old folk games did not have a particular set of rules. They were played throughout fields and city streets. Well-kept documentation was not introduced until 1801 when a man by the name of Joseph Strutt published a book entitled The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England that claimed that there was documentation showing baseball-like games being traced back to the 14th century and that the sport of baseball is derived from the British game of 3stool ball. Baseball-reference.com described stool ball in this manner, “In stool ball, a batter stood before a target, perhaps an upturned stool, while another player pitched a ball to the batter. If the batter hit the ball (with a bat or his/her hand) and it was caught by a fielder, the batter was out. If the pitched ball hit a stool leg, the batter was out. It was more often played by young men and women as a sort of spin the bottle.” This game was originally played with bare hands to deflect the ball until the game 1 Cricket- British organized bat/ball/base game. International game. 2 Rounders – Originated in the British Isles, a game out of which baseball evolved from. 3 Stool ball – Developed in 11th century, this game is played with a player throwing a ball at a target while another defends the target. Jordan, J. The Origination of Baseball and Its Stadiums 4 eventually evolved for use of a bat. This sport is thought to be the most influential beginnings of the present sport of baseball. There are even reports that a baseball-like (thought to be rounders) game was played amongst the men during the American Revolutionary War as seen through the eyes of General George Washington at the Valley Forge (Morris). Through the 18th and 19th century, the sport evolved more and more until a modern like version of the sport was developed in 1845 with a specific set of rules named the Knickerbocker Rules, for the recognition of the 4Knickerbocker Club of New York City (baseball-reference). These set of rules were created by a man named Alexander Cartwright, commonly known as “the father of baseball”. He was actually given official credit as the inventor of baseball in 1953 by Congress (baseball- reference). This is where the discussion of playing fields begins. In 1845, the Knickerbocker Club of New York City began using 5Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey to play baseball. The sport and Elysian Fields jump-started a new tourist aspect. The form of baseball that many know and love today had begun and sprouted its wings. Baseball was more than a sport at the time; it was a means of escaping city life. Morris describes the early era as baseball being a “means of countering the unhealthy tendencies of city living” (Morris, Intro XV). He also explains that the sport flourished and grew exponentially during the late 1850’s 1860’s, even with the emergence of the Civil War feud between the North and South. Morris describes this time as being “baseball fever” where the gentleman’s sport transformed into a potential career with payment for skills. Since the sport was beginning to branch out and become worthy of a spent dollar, many fields became enclosed and started charging for attendance. Thus, establishing the first official baseball stadiums. During the 1862 season, William Cammeyer enclosed the 6Union Grounds in Brooklyn, New York to begin charging admission. The fee was 10 cents. The stadium could seat up to 4,000 fans and later was home for the first Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the 7Red-Stockings (Baseball-Almanac.com). These fields were made up by 2 different parts: infield and outfield. According to Morris in his book, Level Playing Fields, the newly established game of baseball made adjustments for poor 4 Knickerbocker Club of NYC – First organized baseball club. Established in 1842, first official game in 1846. 5 Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey – Site for the earliest organized baseball games played. New York City was already built up so there was no room for a baseball field at the time but New Jersey still had plenty of wide open space. 6 Union Grounds – First official enclosed stadium, later home to the first Major League Baseball team (Red- Stockings modern day Cincinnati Reds) 7 Red-Stockings – Modern Day Cincinnati Reds, first MLB team established in 1869. The team was undefeated for its entire first year as a team, recruiting players and traveling across the country. Jordan, J. The Origination of Baseball and Its Stadiums 5 grounded fields by appropriating the terms “infield” and “outfield” from Scottish farming practices. “Infield” referred to the land near the farmhouse that was kept fertilized and tilled (dirt), whereas the “outfield” denoted the arable land farther from the farmhouse that was cropped but not tilled or fertilized. In my personal imagination, I think of the movie “The Field of Dreams” with the cornfield in the outfield. Anyway, moving on. Morris then begins to describe the effects on people in general. Morris describes baseball fields and ballparks as aesthetic “garden-like” approach. He explains, “Once baseball had outstripped cricket and other rivals and a standard version of its playing rules had emerged, the game began a more fitful transition to professionalism. The story of this extraordinary period in the game’s development has been told often and from many different vantage points… Just as children who enter the ball park are struck first by the dirt and grass, so too mid-nineteenth century Americans encountering baseball must have been powerfully struck by the use of valuable urban or arable land for so transient a purpose as a ball game” (Morris, 2007). This impression of the soil reflected the profound bond between the mid-nineteenth century Americans and the ground by which baseball is played on. Agriculture dominated the nation at the time of the emergence of ball parks. People became infatuated with sounds, smells, and aesthetic views of the ball field. During this time, greens-keepers and gardeners were becoming assets in the ball parks. People not only wanted to come out and watch baseball be played but they wanted to feel in touch with nature and the soil. Morris explains that these keepers were the backbone of the ball park, creating aesthetic views for the crowd to enjoy. With the emergence of mowing and greens- keeping tools, the job was made more complex. It was very time consuming and most machines did not cut close enough to the ground for the liking of these gardeners. Grounds-keeping became a vocation that attracted the rugged individuals that wished to gain a sense of achievement in their work. Thus, emerged 8Billy Houston. He floated from job to job, once being a prizefighter until he finally stuck as a baseball field grounds-keeper. One sportswriter described his constant job change and insurance of constant demand of services as “a mysterious method of procedure which he refuses to divulge to anybody” (Morris, 2007).