The Massachusetts Game

During the first half of the nineteenth century, every region in the United States had their own version of base ball that they enjoyed. Massachusetts was no exception. In fact, many historians today consider the version played in Massachusetts to be the early arch-rival of that of New York as our National Pastime.

Before the Civil War, many in Massachusetts were appalled at the thought of the New York style of play ever infiltrating into their state as the standard bat-and-ball game for their region. Although they recognized the superiority of The New York Game to their own in some aspects, the Massachusetts style of play had a long history in the region, and the proud citizens of the state weren’t about to trade in their free-flowing country style of play for the up-town version of New York.

For example, unlike in The New York Game, the Massachusetts Game had no foul territory. Batters were free to hit the ball in every direction. Any ball that was hit by the batter was considered to be live and in play.

Moreover, baserunners were not required to remain within the basepaths while advancing from base to base. A runner could take the fielders, as described by John Thorne, onto “a merry chase into the outfield and beyond” if he wanted to.

However, with the rise in popularity of the New York Game sweeping through the country, the need became apparent to ball players in Massachusetts to organize their efforts in order to ensure the longevity of their state’s version of swat.

Ten base ball clubs in Massachusetts came together in 1858 to form what was then called The Massachusetts Association of Base Ball Players. For the most part, these organizations were committed to the Massachusetts style of play, and feared that their citizens might succumb to the pressure to conform to the ever enlarging influence of their neighboring state.

In 1857, the Knickerbockers, who had been the first base ball team in America to sit down and write for themselves a set of rules for their version of the game, attempted to standardize how baseball should be played in America by convening under the presumptuous title, “The National Association of Base Ball Players.” One of the ten clubs of the Massachusetts Association of Base Ball Players, the Tri-Mountains, had already resolved to conform to the new set of rules drafted by the Knickerbockers that previous year. When the Tri-Mountains made their intentions clear to the other clubs of the MABBP in that first meeting in 1858, the other clubs were indignant, and refused to play ball with them for a year. They then drafted for themselves their own set of rules by which ball was to be played in their State.

But with the defection of the Tri-Mountains to the New York style of play, the Knickerbockers had gotten a foothold in the state, and it wasn’t long before the Massachusetts style of play gave way. Once Massachusetts surrendered, the host of other versions of ball played in this nation likewise fell one-by-one to the more refined game of New York.

In time, The New York Game came to be known as just “baseball”, and any other version of bat-and-ball was retroactively dubbed “town ball.” The National Pastime was born.

All that is now left of the Massachusetts Game in this country is the list of twenty-one rules put together for us by the Massachusetts Association of Base Ball players in 1858.

Here is the complete set of twenty-one rules that the MABBP codified for themselves in that year:

1. The Ball must weigh not less than two, nor more than two and three-quarters ounces, avoirdupois. It must measure not less than six and a half, nor more than eight and a half inches in circumference, and must be covered with leather.
2. The Bat must be round, and must not exceed two and a half inches in diameter in the thickest part. It must be made of wood, and may be of any length to suit the Striker.
3. Four Bases or Bounds shall constitute a round; the distance from each base shall be sixty feet.
4. The bases shall be wooden stakes, projecting four feet from the ground.
5. The Striker shall stand inside of a space of four feet in diameter, at equal distance between the first and fourth Bases.
6. The Thrower shall stand thirty-five feet from and on a parallel line with the Striker.
7. The Catcher shall not enter within the space occupied by the Striker, and must remain upon his feet in all cases while catching the Ball.
8. The Ball must be thrown - not pitched or tossed - to the Bat, on the side preferred by the Striker, and within reach of his Bat.
9. The ball must be caught flying in all cases.
10. Players must take their knocks in the order in which they are numbered; and after the first inning is played, the turn will commence with the player succeeding the one who lost on the previous inning.
11. The Ball being struck at three times and missed, and caught each time by a player on the opposite side, the Striker shall be considered out. Or, if the Ball be ticked or knocked, and caught on the opposite side, the Striker shall be considered out. But if the ball is not caught after being struck at three times, it shall be considered a knock, and the Striker obliged to run.
12. Should the Striker stand at the Bat without striking at good balls thrown repeatedly at him, for the apparent purpose of delaying the game, or of giving advantage to players, the referees, after warning him, shall call one strike, and if he persists in such action, two and three strikes; when three strikes are called, he shall be subject to the same rules as if he struck at three fair balls.
13. A player, having possession of the first Base, when the Ball is struck by the succeeding player, must vacate the Base, even at the risk of being put out; and when two players get on one Base, either by accident or otherwise, the player who arrived last is entitled to the Base.
14. If a player, while running the Bases, be hit with the Ball thrown by one of the opposite side, before he has touched the home bound, while off a Base, he shall be considered out.
15. A player, after running the four Bases, on making the home bound, shall be entitled to one tally.
16. In playing all match games, when one is out, the side shall be considered out.
17. In playing all match games, one hundred tallies shall constitute the game, the making of which by either Club, that Club shall be judged the winner.
18. Not less than ten nor more than fourteen players from each Club, shall constitute a match in all games.
19. A person engaged on either side, shall not withdraw during the progress of the match, unless he be disabled, or by the consent of the opposite party.
20. The Referees shall be chosen as follows: One from each Club, who shall agree upon a third made from some Club belonging to this Association, if possible. Their decision shall be final, and binding upon both parties.
21. The Tallymen shall be chosen in the same manner as the Referees.