Book Log 2006 #48: Baseball Before We Knew It by David Block

You've heard of baseball history books that are "scholarly," but this book takes a literal approach to the term. Growing out of a bibiliography of old texts that mention baseball or baseball-type games, Block went from cataloging sources to actually using them to show that the American Pastime is as much a European transplant as anyone who came over on the Mayflower.

I like that Block doesn't take a simple chronological approach to the task, but rather starts by showing how the widely-accepted myths about baseball's "invention" - be it Abner Doubleday or rounders - are false. This sets up his later examination of texts from Britain and Germany (!), showing how baseball came to the fore among the variety of bat and ball games that were out there.

This latter part of the book tends to drag a bit, though, and waiting until this part to define terms does lead to a little difficulty in reading the first part. For example, if you didn't know what the "old cat" games were before reading this, mention of them in the book early on may leave you a little lost. It's clear that it's a bat and ball game, but there are no details given until some time into the book.

In any case, though, it's a very readable and unique baseball history that comes recommended. The University of Nebraska Press has an interesting selection of baseball books, which is pleasantly surprising given the school's football focus. They also put out Fleet Walker's Divided Heart, one of the more interesting selections during my Baseball Book of the Week reading list.