Baseball took center stage as America's national pastime in the early 1900s, Encyclopedia.com notes, but it was neither the first nor is it the only ball and bat game. Bat and ball games are fairly simple, don't use a lot of equipment and are generally open to players of all shapes, sizes and genders. An official playing field is optional, as bat and ball games can work in the backyard or on the street.
What They Are
Ball and bat games are games that use a bat to hit a small- to medium-size ball that's usually about 9 inches in circumference. The games generally include two teams. One team is up to bat and hits the ball out into the playing field while the other team members are out on the field. Their goal is to catch the ball after a player hits it and maneuver the ball around the field to get the other team's players out. After three outs, the teams switch positions and continue the game for several innings of play.
Types
Baseball is one of the best-known bat and ball games, but it is not the only one. Others include softball, which uses a slightly larger ball than baseball; cricket and rounders, which are British games similar to baseball; and stick ball and tee ball. Stick ball is the urban version of baseball, in which batters use a stick instead of a bat and makeshift bases, like a fire hydrant, rather than a groomed baseball diamond. Tee ball uses a tee to support the ball for the batter rather than having a pitch thrown from an opposing team's player. Other names for bat and ball games throughout the years have included poisoned ball, baste ball and the game of base, according to San Francisco State University College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Origins
Stool ball, which gave birth to cricket and baseball, is one of the earliest bat and ball games, dating to 1085 and using a stick for a bat, according to San Francisco State University College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Milkmaids and girls were usually the ones playing stool ball, Encyclopedia.com says, as bat and ball games of the Middle Ages were played for fun rather than honing athletic or competitive skills. The word "baseball" popped up as early as 1700 in the memoirs of English Puritan Rev. Thomas Wilson, although the modern American version of the game didn't make its debut until 1832 when two clubs in New York City challenged each other to a match, San Francisco State University College of Behavioral and Social Sciences says.
Dangers
Because the games include a bat and high-velocity projectile, injuries from bat and ball games are not uncommon. The most facial trauma injuries from sports in the United States come from baseball and softball, Encyclopedia.com reports. Most of the injuries, a full 68 percent, come from a player being hit by the ball. Bat and ball game dangers were a concern for the game of baste ball in 1787 when Princeton University banned it from campus for being hazardous -- as well as ungentlemanly.
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