The History of Sport: Stories from Outside the Lines

Baseball & The Little Pretty Pocket Book

Today's episode is about a piece of baseball history, very early baseball history. It's about an 18th-century children's book, about a nationalistic effort to claim ownership over baseball, and about a mining engineer's nostalgic memories of the game's early days. It's about Albert Spalding, the Spalding of so much sports equipment, Abner Graves, the mining engineer in question, and the Civil War general, Abner Doubleday. It's about John Newbery, the man for whom the Newbery Medal for American children's literature is named. Sources: * A Little Pretty Pocket Book. Printed in Worcester by Isaiah Thomas. * Block, David. Baseball Before we Knew it: A Search for the Roots of the Game. University of Nebraska Press, 2005. * Block, David. Pastime Lost: The Humble, Original, and Now Completely Forgotten Game of English Baseball. University of Nebraska Press, 2019. * Martin, Brian. Baseball's Creation Myth: Adam Ford, Abner Graves and the Cooperstown Story. McFarland, 2013. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Father of Boxing, Swinger of Swords

This boxing history episode is the story of James Figg, the 17th-century born "Father of Boxing" and one of the 1992 Boxing Hall of Fame inductees. But his boxing was not the sport you're familiar with today. Figg, who would set up his academy on Tottenham Court Road, was before the Queensbury rules and all of that. Figg entered the ring with a cudgel and a sword. This is his story, and the story of his fight with Ned Sutton, the pipe-fitter from Gravesend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Welcome to the History of Sport

Welcome to the History of Sport: Stories from Outside the Lines! Which sports? What stories? A quick preview of what's to come on the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]