Haney's Base Ball Book of Reference

by Henry Chadwick

The Revised Rules of Baseball for 1867 together with full instructions for umpires and scorers, and also for pitching, batting, and fielding.

Genres: Baseball

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2004

About the author

Henry Chadwick was an English-born American sportswriter, baseball statistician and historian, often called the "father of baseball" for his early reporting on and contributions to the development of the game. He edited the first baseball guide that was sold to the public. He is credited with creating box scores, as well as creating the abbreviation "K" that designates a strikeout. He is said to have created the statistics of batting average and earned run average (ERA).

Reviews

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review title: Playing in the park

This modern reprint of a book that is over 150 years old is a reminder of just how old the sport of baseball is and how much and how little it has changed. This small gem is one of the founding documents of the sport, documenting rules that in many cases still frame the game.

Notorious for its complicated rulebook today, the game in 1867 was simple enough to be described in 43 rules on 33 pages of this pocket-sized booklet and understood by a group of friends gathered at a park for an afternoon of exercise and entertainment. And that example is an apt description of the spirit of the 1867 game since professional players were strictly banned by rule 41 and in the 100 pages of references to organizing, playing, and umpiring the game are subject to sharp shaming. The game is to be played graciously for the joy of the game to avoid "spectators suspecting you of having some ulterior object in view, such as the winning of a sum of money for instance. Playing for money we believe is something not quite unknown in base ball, we regret to say." (p. 135).

But the terminology and the rules, while sometimes oddly worded, still describe the game we see being played by kids in neighborhood parks--and by professionals in empty parks in 2020's coronavirus-shortened season. Batters could request a ball shoulder, hip, knee, or" low", which had to be no less than a foot off the ground and within reach of the bat swung across the plate, which describes the rough dimensions of what we know call the strike zone. An "unfair ball" was a ball outside the zone that the striker (batter) could reach, and after one warning the umpire would call the zone, giving the pitcher three additional balls before the striker was awarded his base. If the striker took, fouled or swung and missed at three pitches thrown "fairly for the striker" (p. 12) then he was out. Rule 17 about putouts at bases says that "It must be palpable that the ball was held by the base player before the base was touched by the base runner." (p. 19); in other words "the tie goes to the baserunner" which is a fan's expression that I never knew was in the rule book, but here it is, or as it is worded if the ball and the runner arrive at the same time: "if, at the same time, he is not out." And you have to love a game where the word "palpable" is used in a rule. Sadly, instant replay technology has replaced a deep vocabulary which found the word with the right meaning to fit the situation.

But while the game is the same (the reference section on pitching success as a mixture of speed, control, endurance, fielding and game planning is traight out of the modern commentator's lexicon) thus is a goldmine of insight into the different world of 1867. Rule 33 says that umpires are agreed by the captain of each team, and if he makes a call that favors the other team: "the best way is to keep silent and make a better selection next time" (p. 27)! Meanwhile to discourage such communication with the umpire, rule 37 says that no person is permitted to "approach or speak with the umpire" (Earl Weaver was not a fan of this rule) because after all "the umpire needs all his wits about him to attend to his duties." (p. 29).

Baseball fans should spend an hour or two with this one. If you have more time to learn about the role of Chadwick and his writings and rules in the history of the game, see Baseball in the Garden of Eden, and to trace the genealogy of the modern rules back to Chadwick, see A Game of Inches:The Stories Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball.

[Oscar Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who wants to score a base ball game- Henry Chadwick/ vintage base ball style .

[Jeff Koslowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a rules and interpretation book, first and foremost. A must read for the historic base ball reenactor and good for anyone who loves the game and wants to know where baseball came from.