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Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game
Think you know how the game of baseball began? Think again.
Forget Abner Doubleday and Cooperstown. Forget Alexander Joy Cartwright and the New York Knickerbockers. Instead, meet Daniel Lucius Adams, William Rufus Wheaton, and Louis Fenn Wadsworth, each of whom has a stronger claim to baseball paternity than Doubleday or Cartwright.
But did baseball even have a father—or did it just evolve from other bat-and-ball games? John Thorn, baseball’s preeminent historian, examines the creation story of the game and finds it all to be a gigantic lie, not only the Doubleday legend, so long recognized with a wink and a nudge. From its earliest days baseball was a vehicle for gambling (much like cricket, a far more popular game in early America), a proxy form of class warfare, infused with racism as was the larger society, invigorated if ultimately corrupted by gamblers, hustlers, and shady entrepreneurs. Thorn traces the rise of the New York version of the game over other variations popular in Massachusetts and Philadelphia. He shows how the sport’s increasing popularity in the early decades of the nineteenth century mirrored the migration of young men from farms and small towns to cities, especially New York. And he charts the rise of secret professionalism and the origin of the notorious “reserve clause,” essential innovations for gamblers and capitalists. No matter how much you know about the history of baseball, you will find something new in every chapter. Thorn also introduces us to a host of early baseball stars who helped to drive the tremendous popularity and growth of the game in the post–Civil War era: Jim Creighton, perhaps the first true professional player; Candy Cummings, the pitcher who claimed to have invented the curveball; Albert Spalding, the ballplayer who would grow rich from the game and shape its creation myth; Hall of Fame brothers George and Harry Wright; Cap Anson, the first man to record three thousand hits and a virulent racist; and many others. Add bluff, bluster, and bravado, and toss in an illicit romance, an unknown son, a lost ball club, an epidemic scare, and you have a baseball detective story like none ever written.
Thorn shows how a small religious cult became instrumental in the commission that was established to determine the origins of the game and why the selection of Abner Doubleday as baseball’s father was as strangely logical as it was patently absurd. Entertaining from the first page to the last, Baseball in the Garden of Eden is a tale of good and evil, and the snake proves the most interesting character. It is full of heroes, scoundrels, and dupes; it contains more scandal by far than the 1919 Black Sox World Series fix. More than a history of the game, Baseball in the Garden of Eden tells the story of nineteenth-century America, a land of opportunity and limitation, of glory and greed—all present in the wondrous alloy that is our nation and its pastime.
365 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2011
57 people are currently reading
1111 people want to read
About the author
John Thorn
118 books23 followersJohn Thorn has been the official historian for Major League Baseball since 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
November 29, 2022
This book was a chore. The writing is dry, and often a labor to plow through. I do not recommend it for entertainment value. It does, however, contain solid information about the origins of the game, and so is not without value.
For a book that covers some of the same ground but is also fun to read, check out Baseball Before We Knew It, by David Block (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...)
For a book that covers some of the same ground but is also fun to read, check out Baseball Before We Knew It, by David Block (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...)
June 26, 2011
This book...frustrating. So many interesting little facts about early baseball are scattered throughout: gambling and carousing were a problem from the very beginning, early baseball players were basically free agents like they are now, going to a different team every year for a bigger payout, there were a whole bunch of African-American players on integrated professional teams in the 1870s/80s, some guy came up with the designated hitter 120 years ago, the New York Mets were a team way back when, playing on Staten Island at times (?!), etc etc etc. Baseball fans interested in the history of the game will find lots of little entertaining moments in this reading.
But there are problems here, and I know who I am blaming. Not Thorn. His editor, Bob Bender, at Simon and Schuster. Maybe you thought you could remain anonymous, Bob, but Thorn sold you out by thanking you in the acknowledgments. Thorn is the talent, and he has a lot of stuff to say that he finds interesting. Your job, Mr. Bender, was to tell Thorn "Look, I'm sorry, but this whole chapter and a half on the Theosophist movement has got to go. I know that some of these early baseball types were involved in it, and it was a weird turn of the century cultish thing and maybe they talked baseball at the meetings or something, but it really has nothing to do with the rest of your material on early baseball. People are reading your book because of the baseball stuff, and they are going to get to this religious cult material and wonder what in the world you are on about. What does this have to do with anything? Who cares what crazy religious cult Al Spalding belonged to in 1890? Cut it all out, and once you do that we can talk about reordering this a bit so that maybe you have one chapter per decade of the 19th century, and readers can follow some basic chronological timeline."
Apparently, Mr. Bender did not have this conversation with Mr. Thorn. And so what we have is messy confusion, with interesting reading strewn awkwardly within.
But there are problems here, and I know who I am blaming. Not Thorn. His editor, Bob Bender, at Simon and Schuster. Maybe you thought you could remain anonymous, Bob, but Thorn sold you out by thanking you in the acknowledgments. Thorn is the talent, and he has a lot of stuff to say that he finds interesting. Your job, Mr. Bender, was to tell Thorn "Look, I'm sorry, but this whole chapter and a half on the Theosophist movement has got to go. I know that some of these early baseball types were involved in it, and it was a weird turn of the century cultish thing and maybe they talked baseball at the meetings or something, but it really has nothing to do with the rest of your material on early baseball. People are reading your book because of the baseball stuff, and they are going to get to this religious cult material and wonder what in the world you are on about. What does this have to do with anything? Who cares what crazy religious cult Al Spalding belonged to in 1890? Cut it all out, and once you do that we can talk about reordering this a bit so that maybe you have one chapter per decade of the 19th century, and readers can follow some basic chronological timeline."
Apparently, Mr. Bender did not have this conversation with Mr. Thorn. And so what we have is messy confusion, with interesting reading strewn awkwardly within.
August 3, 2016
Official Historian of Major League Baseball John Thorn takes on the sacred legends of the game rather aggressively, “You’re not one of those idiots that believe Abner Doubleday invented the game are you?”
“Er, no John, I don’t think so,” I reply, holding the book a little farther away.
“Well you’d be a real moron if you did!”
Thorn goes on to excoriate the 1905 Mills commission, which came to the conclusion that Doubleday invented the game, as if it just came out in the press yesterday, such is his enthusiasm.
Thorn goes on to take a close look at the creation of what was to become the National Pastime, you know if you quote Jane Austen’s references to baseball, you’ve done your research.
Baseball formed much like we played it when we were kids, we played with how many ever boys and girls you could get together, with whatever equipment someone recently got for their birthday, on any lot, side yard or street available, and you made up your own rules when necessary; a hit to right field is always out.
After the first few chapters on the Eden of baseball, Thorn takes a lighter look at the early days of the game. I found it interesting how popular baseball was in the 1880s & 90s, an era not covered much as the Ty Cobb - Babe Ruth days are more thought of as the glory days.
The casual reader may find it tough going in the early chapters, but if you have more than a passing interest in baseball you’ll find this a fun book.
“Er, no John, I don’t think so,” I reply, holding the book a little farther away.
“Well you’d be a real moron if you did!”
Thorn goes on to excoriate the 1905 Mills commission, which came to the conclusion that Doubleday invented the game, as if it just came out in the press yesterday, such is his enthusiasm.
Thorn goes on to take a close look at the creation of what was to become the National Pastime, you know if you quote Jane Austen’s references to baseball, you’ve done your research.
Baseball formed much like we played it when we were kids, we played with how many ever boys and girls you could get together, with whatever equipment someone recently got for their birthday, on any lot, side yard or street available, and you made up your own rules when necessary; a hit to right field is always out.
After the first few chapters on the Eden of baseball, Thorn takes a lighter look at the early days of the game. I found it interesting how popular baseball was in the 1880s & 90s, an era not covered much as the Ty Cobb - Babe Ruth days are more thought of as the glory days.
The casual reader may find it tough going in the early chapters, but if you have more than a passing interest in baseball you’ll find this a fun book.
Want to read
September 15, 2011I recently heard an interview with this author, John Thorn on NPR. He is the Official Baseball Historian for Major League baseball. It was an intriguing discussion during which he told many facts dating much further back in history than I would have expected.
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I was unable to complete my reading of this book because the library requested that I return it. It offers many of the interesting facts and anecdotes which please the baseball enthusiast.
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I was unable to complete my reading of this book because the library requested that I return it. It offers many of the interesting facts and anecdotes which please the baseball enthusiast.
June 28, 2011
as the official historian for major league baseball and chief consultant to ken burns' magnificent 10-part documentary series baseball, john thorn surely ranks as one of the most knowledgeable individuals on our national pastime. his familiarity with and insight to the great game's convoluted and much-disputed history is seemingly voluminous. throughout baseball in the garden of eden: the secret history of the early game, thorn chronicles baseball's formative years and dispels many of its century-old myths, mostly notably that abner doubleday created the game in cooperstown, new york.
despite more than a dozen decades of ardent devotion from fans around the nation, the true history of baseball is known by relatively few. what most people accept as the game's genesis, as the book reinforces many times, is little but a manufactured account lacking almost entirely in veracity. to illustrate the likely reasons behind this widespread misinformation, thorn quotes eminent evolutionary biologist stephen jay gould's thoughts on the topic:
while baseball's roots have often been linked to games such as rounders, town ball, old cat (two old cat, three old cat), and even cricket, bat-and-ball games were played in ancient egypt some 4,500 years ago. although the exact origins of the game we now know as baseball are somewhat murky, there is evidence that some form of the game dates back in american history at least as far as 1735. as part of his exhaustive research on the subject, thorn discovered an obscure 1791 by-law (from pittsfield, massachusetts) prohibiting the playing of baseball near the town meeting house. obviously, abner doubleday (who interestingly enough went on to achieve fame at the battle of fort sumter and later gettysburg) couldn't have invented a game in the mid-1800s that was already being played the century previous.
nearly all of basesball in the garden of eden is set in the mid to late 1800s, when competing versions of the game were each vying for respectability and anointment as the accepted way to play. with a wide array of colorful characters, the game's early years (and some would argue the recent ones, too) were often characterized by greed, attempted monopolization, hippodroming, arrogance, racism, competing visions of what the game could or should be, and other opposing interests. perhaps the strangest (or at least unlikeliest) factor in baseball's ascendancy was the role of the theosophical society (a role far too intricate to elucidate in a short review).
baseball in the garden of eden may well be the definitive account of baseball's beginnings. thorn's illuminating and richly detailed work is itself a feat of scholarship, as he was able to extricate many unknown details about the game's early history in researching the book. while it would, of course, appeal to almost any fan with even a cursory interest in baseball's origins, baseball in the garden of eden is one of the most erudite (and least opinionated) volumes in the entire baseball canon.
despite more than a dozen decades of ardent devotion from fans around the nation, the true history of baseball is known by relatively few. what most people accept as the game's genesis, as the book reinforces many times, is little but a manufactured account lacking almost entirely in veracity. to illustrate the likely reasons behind this widespread misinformation, thorn quotes eminent evolutionary biologist stephen jay gould's thoughts on the topic:
too few people are comfortable with evolutionary modes of explanation in any form. i do not know why we tend to think so fuzzily in this area, but one reason must reside in our social and psychic attraction to creation myths in preference to evolutionary stories- for creation myths...identify heroes and sacred places, while evolutionary stories provide no palpable, particular thing as a symbol for reverence, worship, or patriotism.
while baseball's roots have often been linked to games such as rounders, town ball, old cat (two old cat, three old cat), and even cricket, bat-and-ball games were played in ancient egypt some 4,500 years ago. although the exact origins of the game we now know as baseball are somewhat murky, there is evidence that some form of the game dates back in american history at least as far as 1735. as part of his exhaustive research on the subject, thorn discovered an obscure 1791 by-law (from pittsfield, massachusetts) prohibiting the playing of baseball near the town meeting house. obviously, abner doubleday (who interestingly enough went on to achieve fame at the battle of fort sumter and later gettysburg) couldn't have invented a game in the mid-1800s that was already being played the century previous.
nearly all of basesball in the garden of eden is set in the mid to late 1800s, when competing versions of the game were each vying for respectability and anointment as the accepted way to play. with a wide array of colorful characters, the game's early years (and some would argue the recent ones, too) were often characterized by greed, attempted monopolization, hippodroming, arrogance, racism, competing visions of what the game could or should be, and other opposing interests. perhaps the strangest (or at least unlikeliest) factor in baseball's ascendancy was the role of the theosophical society (a role far too intricate to elucidate in a short review).
baseball in the garden of eden may well be the definitive account of baseball's beginnings. thorn's illuminating and richly detailed work is itself a feat of scholarship, as he was able to extricate many unknown details about the game's early history in researching the book. while it would, of course, appeal to almost any fan with even a cursory interest in baseball's origins, baseball in the garden of eden is one of the most erudite (and least opinionated) volumes in the entire baseball canon.
from the introduction:
...i recognize that i may not presume my readers' familiarity with the themes and plots and players that make baseball's paleolithic period so fascinating to me. prudence prompts the provision of a scorecard and a bit of a road map, too. as the book's title indicates, this is a serpentine tale, winding from ancient egypt to cooperstown on june 12, 1939, with present-day concerns regularly peeping through.
this book honor's baseball's road not taken: the massachusetts version, which was, in many ways, a better game of baseball than the new york game, although the latter triumphed through superior press agentry. also coming in for examination will be the philadelphia game, which like its new england sibling disappeared in an instant, more mysteriously than the dinosaurs. gambling will be seen not as a latter-day pestilence brought upon a pure and innocent game, but instead the vital spark that in the beginning made it worthy of adult attention and press coverage.
July 3, 2024
I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy this book more because I really liked its jacket design (haha).
Not my favorite book, but I did take away at least a general understanding of how baseball came to be. As someone who is starting to follow the sport more, I became curious in its history. This book was at times pretty hard to follow because the author tended to do a lot of name dropping and skipping around on the timeline - it was difficult to keep track of the main ideas, especially at the beginning. I recommend having some knowledge of the myths of baseball's invention before giving this book a go.
Not my favorite book, but I did take away at least a general understanding of how baseball came to be. As someone who is starting to follow the sport more, I became curious in its history. This book was at times pretty hard to follow because the author tended to do a lot of name dropping and skipping around on the timeline - it was difficult to keep track of the main ideas, especially at the beginning. I recommend having some knowledge of the myths of baseball's invention before giving this book a go.
November 16, 2024
Really good history of early, early baseball. Thorn not only deals with the Doubleday myth but he investigates why Doubleday was chosen to be the so-called inventor of Baseball. It all has to do with the desire to claim it as a uniquely American invention and not evolved from the English sport of Rounders. It also has to do with Doubleday and Albert Spalding - who headed up the committee to discover the origin of Baseball. It seems Doubleday and Spalding were members of a society/religion called the Theosophists. The book doubles as a mini-biography of Spalding and the Theosophist society. I think the book dragged somewhat when going deep into the Theosophists but he was trying to make that connection between Spalding, Doubleday and the origin of Baseball.
May 8, 2023
Fascinating. The best part was the turn of the century. Filled with gambling, monopolies, fringe religious societies, politicking, and more, the early days were exciting.
May 31, 2012
Baseball's origins might not seem to be the most exciting topic to read about. For most baseball fans, it doesn't really matter how we got to where we are today. However, Thorn does an excellent job in explaining the very shadowy origins (many of them mythical) of baseball and how it helped to change a game created mostly as a chance for social exercise for New York office workers in the 1830s and 1840s into "the National Pastime" followed with almost religious fervor.
Some of this ground was covered earlier in David Block's excellent Baseball before We Knew It, although Thorn moves on to more events AFTER baseball's early days to show how it progressed. There is further explanation of how the Abner Doubleday myth turned out to be connected to a fairly obscure religious group called the Theosophists, who really didn't care much about baseball, except that a prominent early baseball player and executive, Albert Spalding, was a practitioner.
Some of this ground was covered earlier in David Block's excellent Baseball before We Knew It, although Thorn moves on to more events AFTER baseball's early days to show how it progressed. There is further explanation of how the Abner Doubleday myth turned out to be connected to a fairly obscure religious group called the Theosophists, who really didn't care much about baseball, except that a prominent early baseball player and executive, Albert Spalding, was a practitioner.
March 12, 2018
This book offers a fascinating look at the early days of baseball from a man who seems to know everything there is to know about them.
In the course of debunking the tale of Abner Doubleday having anything to do with inventing the game, Thorn also explores the reasons why it was so important to create that myth. In addition to showing that the game had no foreign antecedents, it also served the agenda of influential Theosophists, something I previously had known nothing about.
The title might mislead you if you pick the book up expecting a nostalgic tour of the pristine origin of the sport and a lament about how things would be better if we could just recapture the good old days. No, the serpent was present from the beginning, to continue with the metaphor of Eden.
Even if the game is not pure American in origin, Thorn, in recounting the presence of gamblers, ruffians, racists, and avaricious owners from the very start, did convince me that the game truly is a mirror of the nation, and thus deserves to be called the national pastime.
In the course of debunking the tale of Abner Doubleday having anything to do with inventing the game, Thorn also explores the reasons why it was so important to create that myth. In addition to showing that the game had no foreign antecedents, it also served the agenda of influential Theosophists, something I previously had known nothing about.
The title might mislead you if you pick the book up expecting a nostalgic tour of the pristine origin of the sport and a lament about how things would be better if we could just recapture the good old days. No, the serpent was present from the beginning, to continue with the metaphor of Eden.
Even if the game is not pure American in origin, Thorn, in recounting the presence of gamblers, ruffians, racists, and avaricious owners from the very start, did convince me that the game truly is a mirror of the nation, and thus deserves to be called the national pastime.
May 14, 2011
A tremendously detailed--if at points difficult to follow (three old cat? rounders? wicket? town ball?)--account of the early years of the national pastime. Thorn's work in the archives would be impressive in any case, but it's even more remarkable when one considers that it had been put in the service of a baseball book. Some of his findings, such as the crucial role played by the Theosophical Society in the development of the sport's creation myth, are quite intriguing. The contextual details are solid, too--Thorn knows his history.
August 11, 2013
This book is a scholarly well-researched book on the origins of baseball and its early years. It has all you want to know and then some! That is really my only gripe about the book. I think some of the information could have been left out and it would have made it more enjoyable to read without taking away from the pertinent history of the game. If you like baseball, as I do, I don't think it is a waste of time to read this book.
May 28, 2014
Couldn't get through Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game. The prose was dense and laborious, although I can tell that it is well-researched and fairly well-executed. I just couldn't do it.
November 13, 2023
Thorn offers a great deal of interesting detail here for a baseball fan, but it's not really connected into a coherent story. There is a blizzard of names, and the narrative constantly moves backward and forward in time. Two stories are imperfectly melded: the origin and development of MLB, and the retrospective development of baseball origin stories. He makes some use of recently digitized newspapers from the early 1800s. A lot of scorn is heaped on the long-discredited story that Abner Doubleday invented the sport in Cooperstown in 1839. Thorn emphasizes the seamy underside of the sport: back-room machinations, gambling, thrown games. The narrative ends with the opening of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1939.
There was a variety of games involving bats, balls, and bases in America in the 18th and early 19th centuries, with fluid rules and various names: rounders, town ball, one-cat, base ball, etc. Cricket was the most standardized among them. Different games were favored in different cities. In the 1850s a group of New York City clubs got together and established standard rules for interclub games. These rules included most features of the modern game: the diamond, foul area, 90' base paths, 3 strikes and the batter is out, 3 outs and the side is out, 9 innings, 9 players. Over time this game spread across the country. Soon professional players infiltrated amateur clubs. The National League was established in 1876, providing a more tightly organized structure than previous loose associations and independent teams.
Perhaps the strangest thread in the story is the interweaving of Theosophy and baseball. Several early pro baseball bigwigs were involved in Madame Blavatsky's movement. Abner Doubleday, the very man who did not invent baseball, was head of the American Theosophy for a while
There was a variety of games involving bats, balls, and bases in America in the 18th and early 19th centuries, with fluid rules and various names: rounders, town ball, one-cat, base ball, etc. Cricket was the most standardized among them. Different games were favored in different cities. In the 1850s a group of New York City clubs got together and established standard rules for interclub games. These rules included most features of the modern game: the diamond, foul area, 90' base paths, 3 strikes and the batter is out, 3 outs and the side is out, 9 innings, 9 players. Over time this game spread across the country. Soon professional players infiltrated amateur clubs. The National League was established in 1876, providing a more tightly organized structure than previous loose associations and independent teams.
Perhaps the strangest thread in the story is the interweaving of Theosophy and baseball. Several early pro baseball bigwigs were involved in Madame Blavatsky's movement. Abner Doubleday, the very man who did not invent baseball, was head of the American Theosophy for a while
March 22, 2019
About 4 years ago, I bought a book on baseball from Amazon. Not that long ago, they decided I might be interested in this 2011 book by John Thorn - and I could order it from one of their sellers for $55 - so I went to eBay, found a new copy for around $4 and got it. Thanks Amazon!
With the baseball season getting underway, this seemed like a good time to read this one and get me in the mood by reading about baseball's early days when players played for little or nothing instead of millions of dollars a year. Back then, it was the gamblers who made the big bucks by gambling on the games......the players didn't make a lot.
I've always loved the history of the game and felt it was better back in the early days, but after reading this, I'm not so sure. Thorn takes all the way back to ancient Egypt in exploring the origins of the game - one thing is for certain, Abner Doubleday who is credited with inventing baseball had about as much to with inventing it as I did. Then we take a truly fascinating look at some of the early characters involved in the game, as well as some of the teams such as the New York Knickerbockers. He does tend to get bogged down towards the end though in discussing the role of the Theosophist movement of the late 1800's - actually to the point where the book begins to drag a bit and gets a bit boring. Then, finally, he picks it up again and wraps it up on a higher note.
If you like long chapters - average length, about 25 pages - and can get past the Theosophist movement, this is a very interesting book. It's definitely for the person who loves baseball and who is fascinated by the early days and the early characters that played the game which has evolved into something wholly different today, this is recommended reading.
With the baseball season getting underway, this seemed like a good time to read this one and get me in the mood by reading about baseball's early days when players played for little or nothing instead of millions of dollars a year. Back then, it was the gamblers who made the big bucks by gambling on the games......the players didn't make a lot.
I've always loved the history of the game and felt it was better back in the early days, but after reading this, I'm not so sure. Thorn takes all the way back to ancient Egypt in exploring the origins of the game - one thing is for certain, Abner Doubleday who is credited with inventing baseball had about as much to with inventing it as I did. Then we take a truly fascinating look at some of the early characters involved in the game, as well as some of the teams such as the New York Knickerbockers. He does tend to get bogged down towards the end though in discussing the role of the Theosophist movement of the late 1800's - actually to the point where the book begins to drag a bit and gets a bit boring. Then, finally, he picks it up again and wraps it up on a higher note.
If you like long chapters - average length, about 25 pages - and can get past the Theosophist movement, this is a very interesting book. It's definitely for the person who loves baseball and who is fascinated by the early days and the early characters that played the game which has evolved into something wholly different today, this is recommended reading.
April 5, 2024
In a nutshell, the purpose of John Thorn's Baseball in the Garden of Eden is to discuss debunked "histories" of the origin of the game of baseball, to provide a more accurate history of its origin, and to explain how the the debunked "histories" came to be. For the most part, Mr. Thorn provides solid information, although to be honest there was very little in his research that I had not read before.
Without getting too far into the details, my disappointment with the book was with Mr. Thorn's approach. He appears to be good at relaying anecdotes, but he appears to be challenged in his ability to weave those anecdotes into a coherent story. His narrative bounces all over the place. We jump back and forth in time throughout the book. We circle back to parts of the story that he has already covered, often in great length. He delves into details about characters' lives that do nothing to genuinely advance the story. He quotes at great length letters and newspaper articles, many of which could have been edited to provide the germane information without the "great length".
I am aware of Mr. Thorn's work and reputation as a baseball historian and I have no doubt about his knowledge. But he is in need of a better editor who can rein in his tendencies and tighten his story.
And so, in the end, I will quote from the blurb on the back of the book: "No matter how much you know about the history of baseball, Baseball in the Garden of Eden will surprise, enlighten, and fascinate you." Was I surprised? Not much. Was I enlightened? To be fair, I was to a limited extent. Was I fascinated? Considering that reading the book felt like a chore, I'd have to say that I was not.
Without getting too far into the details, my disappointment with the book was with Mr. Thorn's approach. He appears to be good at relaying anecdotes, but he appears to be challenged in his ability to weave those anecdotes into a coherent story. His narrative bounces all over the place. We jump back and forth in time throughout the book. We circle back to parts of the story that he has already covered, often in great length. He delves into details about characters' lives that do nothing to genuinely advance the story. He quotes at great length letters and newspaper articles, many of which could have been edited to provide the germane information without the "great length".
I am aware of Mr. Thorn's work and reputation as a baseball historian and I have no doubt about his knowledge. But he is in need of a better editor who can rein in his tendencies and tighten his story.
And so, in the end, I will quote from the blurb on the back of the book: "No matter how much you know about the history of baseball, Baseball in the Garden of Eden will surprise, enlighten, and fascinate you." Was I surprised? Not much. Was I enlightened? To be fair, I was to a limited extent. Was I fascinated? Considering that reading the book felt like a chore, I'd have to say that I was not.
October 22, 2021
John Thorn is one of the unquestionable experts on baseball, the official historian to the major leagues, and noted contributor to Ken Burns’ epic documentary on the national game. Here he charts the early days of the game, from its origins up to the early twentieth century, the book for the most part feeling very similar to the first episode of the Ken Burns documentary covering much the same time period.
Thorn covers the history of the early game of baseball (otherwise known as bat ball, base ball, town ball, ball ball, old cat, wicket, just a few among a myriad of early bat-and-ball games common in the colonial and antebellum eras) in exacting detail. He throughly debunks the hagiographic origin stories of the game (Doubleday’s mythic founding of the game for example) and places baseball within a cultural and historical setting in which it was one of many similar games enjoyed by the American public and through a concerted effort by its players and eventual owners, overtook the other games to become a national game.
Thorn is detailed in his scholarship though with the tendency towards prolix expression of his findings. An entire chapter was devoted to the somewhat tenuous connexion between theosophy and baseball for example. There are also moments where the sheer weight of history, the names and the variant games, overwhelm the reader. These frustrating moments do not overly hinder the book’s message but definitely did hinder my overall reading experience.
However, this book definitely will appeal to fans of the early game as well as those looking to better understand the role baseball has had in the American psyche.
Thorn covers the history of the early game of baseball (otherwise known as bat ball, base ball, town ball, ball ball, old cat, wicket, just a few among a myriad of early bat-and-ball games common in the colonial and antebellum eras) in exacting detail. He throughly debunks the hagiographic origin stories of the game (Doubleday’s mythic founding of the game for example) and places baseball within a cultural and historical setting in which it was one of many similar games enjoyed by the American public and through a concerted effort by its players and eventual owners, overtook the other games to become a national game.
Thorn is detailed in his scholarship though with the tendency towards prolix expression of his findings. An entire chapter was devoted to the somewhat tenuous connexion between theosophy and baseball for example. There are also moments where the sheer weight of history, the names and the variant games, overwhelm the reader. These frustrating moments do not overly hinder the book’s message but definitely did hinder my overall reading experience.
However, this book definitely will appeal to fans of the early game as well as those looking to better understand the role baseball has had in the American psyche.
October 23, 2024
Audiobook. John Thorn is terrific baseball historian. He is not however a great writer. This is a fine book, but Thorne descends into minutiae in many spots.
While I have no trouble believing in the late 19th century people held, what modern readers would find, odd religious beliefs. Thorne decides that Theosophy gets the spotlight in this book. It's a very odd choice to make in a book about the origins of baseball.
While there is a solid chance I missed something, I don't honestly care about Theosophy and it's impact on the origins in baseball.
I tend to want to give Thorn a break and credit him with knowing too much and he wrote it all down. The issue then becomes why wasn't there a discussion about if Theosophy belongs in this book. And since Thorn won the argument, how did he win the argument????
This is fine. The baseball history is good. Its not written in a popular style, but it's ok.
Recommend to die hard baseball history buffs. Die hard history buffs, not die hard fans.
While I have no trouble believing in the late 19th century people held, what modern readers would find, odd religious beliefs. Thorne decides that Theosophy gets the spotlight in this book. It's a very odd choice to make in a book about the origins of baseball.
While there is a solid chance I missed something, I don't honestly care about Theosophy and it's impact on the origins in baseball.
I tend to want to give Thorn a break and credit him with knowing too much and he wrote it all down. The issue then becomes why wasn't there a discussion about if Theosophy belongs in this book. And since Thorn won the argument, how did he win the argument????
This is fine. The baseball history is good. Its not written in a popular style, but it's ok.
Recommend to die hard baseball history buffs. Die hard history buffs, not die hard fans.
May 13, 2020
Thorn, one of baseball's premier historians, takes the reader back to the mid 1800s to track the birth, evolution and eventual professionalization of baseball. The book is an interesting mix of myth-busting, research, character studies, business and culture in America from roughly 1830 to 1910. He covers all the major leagues - the National Association, the National League, the American Association, the Union League, the Players' League, the American League and the Federal League. Thorn focuses throughout the book on the Mills Commission, which determined that civil war general Abner Doubleday "invented" baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, NY - and more importantly why baseball's leaders (such as Al Spalding) were so willing to believe this obvious tale (mainly to undercut Henry Chadwick's claim that baseball had evolved from the English game of rounders). If you love baseball and history both - this is one you should pick up.
June 27, 2025
This is a somewhat interesting book about the early history of baseball. Wrapped into this story is a more interesting account of why the early history of baseball is so contested. I had two related frustrations with this book. First is that Thorn, who is the official baseball historian for MLB, seems to be inviting me into a debate he assumes I was much more familiar with than I was. The merits of Abner Doubleday vs. Alexander Cartwright is not exactly a debate I'm turning over in my head most days, and his assumption of greater familiarity was off-putting. Relatedly, he seemed to assume that the debate matters much more than it does, without explaining why it matters so much. I found it hard to care if baseball came from rounders, or cricket, or if there were 9 or 11 men on a field. I think this would have been clearer if his arguments about the larger geopolitical debates between America and England had been more developed here.
September 21, 2021
I am a self-proclaimed history geek. I love historical fiction. I will read non-fiction just to learn or clarify something. I also LOVE baseball. So John Thorn’s book was a perfect fit.
To debunk the myth of Abner Doubleday creating the modern game of baseball, Thorn digs through history to find the supporting evidence. Cricket > Rounders > 2 Cat > 3 Cat > Baseball. Our national sport, just like our nation, sprung from our English roots. There is no shame in that. So why did early historians of the game feel the need to give the sport an alternative origin story? Pride? Power? Greed? Love? Money? (...all the usual suspects) Whatever it was, Thorn digs out more information about the origins of baseball than I ever thought possible AND he was able to throw in a little historical love interest to boot!
Now, it’s time for the end of the season and the playoffs! Go Giants!!
To debunk the myth of Abner Doubleday creating the modern game of baseball, Thorn digs through history to find the supporting evidence. Cricket > Rounders > 2 Cat > 3 Cat > Baseball. Our national sport, just like our nation, sprung from our English roots. There is no shame in that. So why did early historians of the game feel the need to give the sport an alternative origin story? Pride? Power? Greed? Love? Money? (...all the usual suspects) Whatever it was, Thorn digs out more information about the origins of baseball than I ever thought possible AND he was able to throw in a little historical love interest to boot!
Now, it’s time for the end of the season and the playoffs! Go Giants!!
March 21, 2024
This book is a more than decent overview of the development of baseball. Clearly, the national pastime evolved out of other bat and ball games. There is not one single origin point, but there are many times when it can be said "this is baseball." The years 1837, 1845, and 1857 stand out, as do 1884, 1893, (beyond the scope of this book) 1921, and 1947.
The account goes beyond just the development of the game and Organized Baseball but also includes female and Black baseball teams, players, and leagues. The book spends considerable time investigating why the Doubleday myth was likely created, which is interesting enough.
Could have been a bit livelier and focused a bit more on the teams and contests of the day, but still well worth the read for a baseball patriot.
The account goes beyond just the development of the game and Organized Baseball but also includes female and Black baseball teams, players, and leagues. The book spends considerable time investigating why the Doubleday myth was likely created, which is interesting enough.
Could have been a bit livelier and focused a bit more on the teams and contests of the day, but still well worth the read for a baseball patriot.
March 16, 2021
Having just read Thomas W. Gilbert's "How Baseball Happened", the beginning of Thorn's book seemed like a bit of a slog. Gilbert is certainly a more florid writer and there was a lot of overlap, which of course is not the fault of this book, which long preceded Gilbert.
Thorn's expertise really paid off down the stretch, though. I loved the chapters on the late 19th century battles between leagues and how the early days of the AL/NL joint effort shaped up. I even found the Theosophy research intriguing, which seems to be a point of contention in the reviews.
A good pairing with Gilbert's book to better understand the legends, myths and BS of the early days of the national pastime.
Thorn's expertise really paid off down the stretch, though. I loved the chapters on the late 19th century battles between leagues and how the early days of the AL/NL joint effort shaped up. I even found the Theosophy research intriguing, which seems to be a point of contention in the reviews.
A good pairing with Gilbert's book to better understand the legends, myths and BS of the early days of the national pastime.
March 10, 2023
I never thought I could be bored of a baseball book, but this one got me there. True to its word, "Baseball in the Garden of Eden" goes through the game from its inception and barely makes it into the 20th century. The book is indispensable for anyone interested in or researching baseball during the time period, but that is the only type of person who will be entertained or interested; despite being just shy of 300 pages, the book reads like a tome. As dense and dry as books of history are wont to be, "Baseball in the Garden of Eden" is meticulous if nothing else.
October 20, 2023
This book deserves a 5-Star rating for the quality of writing, quality of research, the amount of information it contains and what an astonishing true tale it tells.
John Thorn is an excellent writer and a world-class researcher.
The information that is packed into each page and every paragraph is amazing. All of this information is cited and written about in a Notes Section that is 49 pages of it's own.
I thought I knew well how baseball began in the United States.
Before reading this book, I know now I didn't know at all.
John Thorn is an excellent writer and a world-class researcher.
The information that is packed into each page and every paragraph is amazing. All of this information is cited and written about in a Notes Section that is 49 pages of it's own.
I thought I knew well how baseball began in the United States.
Before reading this book, I know now I didn't know at all.
November 25, 2019
Mammoth, well-research account of baseball's origin story. A book like this has to meander down many rabbit holes, and this one occasionally lost me. Thorn's work is definitive, and he ties together his strings well, but the sheer number and length of the various strings can be daunting. If you're going to learn about or write about the early years of baseball, you have to read this book. But otherwise, you might not necessarily gravitate toward the narrative.
April 9, 2020
I think it's important to read the introduction to this book to understand what Thorn is looking to do - this is not just a history of early baseball in the US; it is also an examination of the creation myth of baseball - who shaped the myth, what their motives were, how it happened, and how it connected with the origins of baseball.
An interesting journey through the characters who sought to both shape the early game of baseball and create the origin story around it.
An interesting journey through the characters who sought to both shape the early game of baseball and create the origin story around it.
November 10, 2020
A book about the roots of the greatest game, and an in-depth look at who invented, created, and spread its word? Sounds good on the surface. And indeed, Thorn gives us lots of scuttlebutt about how it all came about. And there's some good writing with respect to how the leagues came about. But good lord was the first half dry, almost causing me to drop it at about page 100. Fortunately the second half was better, but good prose in general it is not.
Want to read
December 13, 2021The World Series is underway and this scrupulous look at the origins of baseball shows in detail how far the modern game has come. Beginning with the debate over baseball’s inventor, the intricate investigation into various street games from which it may have descended and other early controversies, this book spans baseball’s long history to keep you going long after the trophy has been lifted this November.
More recommendations from me at www.jenniferfrostwrites.com
More recommendations from me at www.jenniferfrostwrites.com
June 27, 2022
Fascinating from page 1 to the end. Thorn elucidates the origin of the game, its growth and turbulent days, while bringing to life the personalities involved and the times from the pre-Civil War years to the early 1900's. Masterful. A classic and a great read for the die-hard baseball fan. Loved it!
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