George B. Kirsch, writing about the development of the modern game of baseball:
The English national game of cricket was the first modern team sport in the United States. During the 1850s, an estimated 10,000 English immigrants and native-born men and boys founded about 500 clubs in at least 22 states in the Union. By 1861, Philadelphia had become the cricketing capital of the nation, boasting the most organizations and the largest contingent of proficient, American-born players. But cricket also faced major challenges from two upstart versions of baseball that had recently exploded in popularity. “The Massachusetts game” reigned supreme in Boston and most of New England, while “the New York game” ruled Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey.
And how it was affected by the looming Civil War:
Thousands of members of northern cricket and baseball clubs volunteered for service in the Union Army, while a handful chose the Confederate side. In Cincinnati, Abraham G. Mills, a future president of the National League, packed a bat and ball with his Army gear before reporting for military duty. In late May Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times reported that the pitcher of St. Louis’ Union club planned to resign from his team to accept a commission in the Second Missouri Artillery after leading his team to victory in a city championship match. According to that paper, his fans hoped that “the balls he will pitch at the foes of his country’s flag, may be as successful in putting down their insolent presumption, as were those pitched against his civil opponents yesterday,” the former champions of St. Louis.
Fascinating stuff as usual from Disunion, The New York Times’s liveblog of the Civil War.