In stoolball, which developed by the 11th century, one player throws the ball at a target while another player defends the target. Stob-ball and stow-ball were regional games similar to stoolball.

All three games were named for the target. In stob ball and stow ball the target was probably a tree stump, since both "stob" and "stow" mean stump in some dialects. ( "Stow" could also refer to a type of frame used in mining). What the target originally was in stoolball is not certain. It could have been a stump, since “stool” in old Sussex dialect means stump. However, the target in stoolball may originally have been either a milking stool or a church stool.

According to one legend, milkmaids played stoolball while waiting for their husbands to return from the fields. Another theory is that stoolball developed as a game played after attending church services, in which case the target was probably a church stool.

Originally, the stool was defended with a bare hand. Later, a bat of some kind was used (in modern stoolball, a bat like a very heavy ping-pong paddle is used).

There were several versions of stoolball. In the earliest versions, the object was primarily to defend the stool. Successfully defending the stool counted for one point, and the batter was out if the ball hit the stool. There was no running involved. Another version of stoolball involved running between two stools, and scoring was similar to the scoring in cricket. In yet another version there were several stools, and points were scored by running around them as in baseball.

Because of the different versions of stoolball, and because it was played not only in England, but also in colonial America, stoolball is considered by many to have been the basis of not only cricket, but both baseball and rounders as well.

Tip-cat, Trap Ball
Tip-cat is an early game that involves hitting a piece of wood (the "cat") with a stick. The object is to hit the cat as far as possible. The cat is a piece of wood about six inches long, two inches in diameter and tapered at each end, so that, if the cat is on the ground, striking the end of the cat with a stick will cause it to fly up in the air so it can be hit with the stick.

Trap-ball, which developed by the 14th century, is somewhat similar to tip-cat, except that, instead of striking a cat with a stick to get it to fly in the air so it can be hit, a ball is launched from a kind of catapult.

Cat and Dog
Another early folk game was cat and dog (or "dog and cat"), which probably originated in Scotland. In cat and dog a piece of wood called a cat is thrown at a hole in the ground while another player defends the hole with a stick (a dog). In some cases there were two holes and, after hitting the cat, the batter would run between them while fielders would try to put the runner out by putting the ball in the hole before the runner got to it. Dog and cat thus resembled cricket.

Cricket
The history of cricket prior to 1650 is something of a mystery. Games believed to have been similar to cricket had developed by the 13th century. There was a game called "creag", and another game, Handyn and Handoute (Hands In and Hands Out), which was made illegal in 1477 by King Edward IV, who considered the game childish, and a distraction from compulsory archery practice.

References to a game actually called "cricket" appeared around 1550. It is believed that the word cricket is based either on the word cric, meaning a crooked stick (possibly a shepherd's crook), or on the Flemish word “krickstoel", which refers to a stool upon which one kneels in church.

Cat, One Old Cat
A game that was popular in colonial America was one hole catapult, which used a catapult like the one used in trap-ball.

The game of cat (or "cat-ball") had many variations but usually there was a pitcher, a catcher, a batter and fielders, but there were no sides (and often no bases to run). A feature of some versions of cat that would later become a feature of baseball was that a batter would be out if he swung and missed three times.

Another game that was popular in early America was one ol' cat, the name of which was possibly originally a contraction of one hole catapult. In one ol' cat, when a batter is put out, the catcher goes to bat, the pitcher catches, a fielder becomes the pitcher, and other fielders move up in rotation. One ol' cat was often played when there weren't enough players to choose up sides and play townball. Sometimes running to a base and back was involved. Two ol' cat was the same game as one ol' cat, except that there were two batters.

Early baseball
A game called "base-ball" had developed in England by the early 18th century, and it continued to be called "baseball" until after 1800. It was mentioned in a book published in 1744 called Little Pretty Pocket-Book. As is the case with all folk games, there were many variations. Similar games were played in America well before 1800.

Rules for "baseball" appeared in 1796, in a German book by Johann Guts Muths, who called the game "English base-ball". In the game described by Guts Muths, the number of bases varied with the number of players, and a single out retired the entire side.

In 2004, historian John Thom discovered a reference to a bylaw prohibiting anyone from playing "baseball" within 80 yards of the new meeting house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. A librarian found the actual by-law in the Berkshire Athenaeum library, and its age was verified by researchers at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center.

If authentic and if actually referring to a recognizable version of the modern game, the 1791 document, would be, as of 2004, the earliest known reference to the game.

Did Abner Doubleday invent baseball?
Contrary to a widely held belief that Abner Doubleday invented baseball (presumably in 1839), there is virtually no evidence that he did. He, in fact, never claimed that he did. The finding by a 1905 commission that he did has been fairly thoroughly discredited. Doubleday was a Civil War hero, but probably had little, if anything, to do with the development of baseball.

Jeff Idelson of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York has stated, "Baseball wasn't really born anywhere," meaning that the evolution of the game was long and continuous and has no clear, identifiable single origin.

1845 / The Knickerbocker Rules
The first published rules of modern baseball were written in 1845 for a Manhattan team called the 'Knickerbockers'. The author of those rules, Alexander Cartwright, has come to be known as the father of modern baseball. The evolution of the so-called "Knickerbocker Rules" into the rules of today is fairly well documented.

Before 1845
The evolution of the game prior to 1845 is unclear. The Knickerbocker Rules describe a game that people had been playing for some time. But exactly how long is uncertain, as is the question of how that game developed.

Early theorists tended to fall into two camps. One group, mostly British, asserted that baseball evolved from a game of British origin (probably rounders), while the other group, almost entirely American, argued that baseball was an American invention (perhaps derived from the game of one ol' cat). Proponents of these two views apparently saw them as mutually exclusive. Some of their conclusions seem based more on a sense of national loyalty than on any actual evidence.

American historians tended to reject any suggestion that baseball evolved from a British game, while some British observers concluded that baseball was little more than rounders without the round. The theory that baseball is based on British games (such as cat, cricket and rounders) is difficult to dispute. On the other hand, baseball has many elements that are uniquely American.

Cricket and Rounders
Baseball is almost certaily related to cricket and rounders, but exactly how, or how closely, has not been established.

The theory that baseball is derived from cricket is difficult to document, although it is certainly true that modern cricket is considerably older than modern baseball.

Another widely accepted theory, that baseball evolved from rounders, is questionable. It comes down mostly to a matter of semantics. While it's hard to dispute that baseball and rounders are both derived from the same folk game, that game didn't much resemble either of the modern games. Actually, in the earliest references to that folk game, it is called "base-ball". That early "base-ball" came to be known as rounders in England and townball in the United States. While early rounders and townball were at one time nearly identical (except for the terminlology), they developed into two rather different games.

After 1845
In 1857, a group of 25 Northeastern clubs sent delegates and standardized the rules. In 1858, they formed the first baseball league, the 'National Association of Base Ball Players'. The league started giving games to the public and charged an admission.

During the American Civil War, soldiers from the Northeast, where baseball was flourishing, spread the game all over the country. After the war ended, baseball had more than 100 clubs.

In 1869, the world's first professional baseball team formed. All previous players were amateur and unpaid. The Cincinnati Red Stockings recruited the best players and no one beat the Red Stockings that year.

Regardless of this and later changes, several clubs exist in the present-day United States that play "the old game", either according to the 1845, 1858, or post-Civil War rules.

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