TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US WAY BACK TO SHERE, ENGLAND, MARCH 31, 1755. The earliest known reference to “base-ball” was made on this date.
That was not a misprint – 1755.
And it was made in England, not America. The entry was made by William Bray, a successful lawyer and meticulous recorder of daily life in County Shere outside London.
Here’s what he wrote some 260 years ago:
“Went to stoke church this morn. After dinner went to Miss Jeal’s to play at base-ball with her, the three Miss Whiteheads, Miss Billinghurst, Miss Molly Flutter, Mr, Chandler, Mr. Ford, Mr. Parsons. Drank tea and stayed til 8.”
It was a startling discovery. While British games like “Rounders,” “Town Ball,” and “Cricket,” were believed to have influenced base ball, it was thought to be a purely American invention. But if that was the case, what was the earliest known reference to base-ball doing in the diary of a Brit in 1755?
Contributing sources:
John Thorn is the Official Biographer for Major League Baseball
David Block, baseball historian, author of “Baseball Before We Knew it: A Search For the Roots of the Game”
Origins of Baseball
