Superbowl Sunday was not so super; my walk in the park on a lovely afternoon was cancelled by a migraine. I loathe football anyway; whereas I harbor a mild fondness for baseball, mainly for its intimate connection to summertime.
In a consolatory ramble in the archives of the New York Times and the Brooklyn Eagle, however, I discovered that winter was no barrier to Brooklyn's most determined players. In Prospect Park, they used to play "base-ball" on ice skates, just 125 years ago. Here is proof, from the New York Times, February 11, 1883:
A week earlier, the Eagle stated: "Base-ball on skates has got to be popular at Prospect Park, and each game eclipses the preceding one, both in number of spectators and the playing quality of the clubs. The daily visitor to the park...is one of the throng watching intently the national game in progress by steel-shod players. This rare game affords good amusement, and at the same time is made interesting by the remarkable good playing of the adepts." The rules seemed to have codified by 1887, when the paper reported that "rules admit of 5 innings as a complete game...only the square pitch or toss of the ball to the bat is allowable, no throwing the ball to the bat by the pitcher is admissible...a very dead ball is used."
Nowhere, however, can I find a photograph of baseball being played on ice skates; "ice baseball" or "baseball on skates" both produce close to what humorist Gene Weingarten terms a "Googlenope." The closest I came was this beauty from King Island, Alaska c. 1951. If anyone can find visual evidence of this virtually forgotten sport, please share with the rest of us!
Image: The King Island Journal, www.riemunoz.com
Great story. Sounds like a crazy idea. I'm gonna search for visual image of this game. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Alex | February 05, 2008 at 09:17 AM
I am the director of the Historical Society of Talbot County in Easton, Maryland. On March 20, 2008, our 1860s vintage base ball club, the Fair Plays, and the county parks and rec department staged a match of base ball on ice according to 1860s rules. We were assisted in our efforts by Peter Morris, author of But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870 (2008). The book includes information on base ball on ice. Pictures from our ice base ball match will be posted on our web site www.hstc.org within a few weeks.
Posted by: Glenn Uminowicz | March 22, 2008 at 02:55 PM
http://www.covehurst.net/ddyte/brooklyn/favorite%202.html
Two accounts (and a picture!) of ice base ball at Washington Park in Brooklyn in 1884.
Posted by: David D | May 23, 2010 at 08:45 PM