For many years, Abner Doubleday was thought to have invented baseball, though the real story behind this man's involvement in America's favorite pastime isn't so cut and dry. "Abner Doubleday didn't invent baseball," says Harold Peterson in his 1973 book "The Man Who Invented Baseball." "Baseball invented Abner Doubleday."
Military History
Abner Doubleday's long and accomplished military history began when he graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1842 and took a post in the artillery-infantry. He fought in the Mexican and Seminole Indian wars, and Arlington National Cemetery credits him with firing the first Union shot at Fort Sumter after it was attacked, signaling the start of the Civil War. Doubleday went on to attain the rank of major general, fighting with and leading Union soldiers in Gettsyburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Second Bull Run. After retiring, he wrote the books "Reminiscences of Fort Sumter and Moultrie in 1860-61," and "Chancellorsville and Gettysburg." Doubleday died in 1893 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A commemorative statue bearing his likeness also stands on Gettysburg's battlefield.
The Cooperstown Legend
In his lifetime, Abner Doubleday was known for his military service. It was only after his death that he received credit for the invention of baseball. Legend has it that Doubleday came up with the game in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839, and thus Cooperstown was selected as the location of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. In 1907, the Cooperstown legend became fact after a commission appointed to determine baseball's origins supposedly verified that Doubleday invented the essential rules of the game.
Debunking The Myth
Over the years, the claims of the 1907 commission that named Doubleday the inventor of baseball have been revealed as myth. "Every major scholar has pretty much debunked the tale that Doubleday invented baseball," says Texas A&M University History professor David Vaught. Doubleday was not even in Cooperstown at the time he supposedly invented the game, and in the many papers and letters left behind after his death, not one mentioned baseball. In "Smithsonian Q & A: Baseball: The Ultimate Question & Answer Book," author David Fischer asserts that the Doubleday myth was created to prove that baseball was an American invention, despite its connection to the British game rounders.
Doubleday's Legacy
The game that's now known as America's pastime was played long before its supposed origins in 1839, and likely evolved slowly over time into the sport we know today. Thus, scholars can't pinpoint exactly who came up with the game. "Trying to find the inventor of baseball is like trying to find the inventor of fire," says Vaught. Still, those who visit Cooperstown, can pay homage to the man who didn't invent the game by taking a trip to Abner Doubleday Field, where a plaque inside describes the town as the "spiritual home of baseball."
References
- Arlington Cemetery: Abner Doubleday -- Major General, United States Army
- Biography.com: Abner Doubleday Biography
- "Smithsonian Q & A -- Baseball -- The Ultimate Question & Answer Book"; David Fischer; 2007
- Eurekalert; Idea That Abner Doubleday Created Baseball is Going, Going, Gone; April 2009
- "Baseball's First Inning -- A History of the National Pastime Through the Civil War"; William J. Ryczek; 2009
- "The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary"; Paul Dickson; 1999
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