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But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870 | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Morris
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
Category: Book
List Price: $27.50
Buy New: $15.94
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 117751
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 1566637481
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357097309034
EAN: 9781566637480
ASIN: 1566637481
Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20080704211911T
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Product Description
But Didn't We Have Fun? covers a period in the early days of baseball that even those who think they know everything about the popular American sport do not know. Peter Morris--an indefatigable researcher and brilliant chronicler, and winner of both the S
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 Americans moved from countryside to cities and brought baseball with them June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
BUT DIDN'T WE HAVE FUN? AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF BASEBALL'S PIONEER ERA, 1843-1870 tells of a generation of mid-19th-century Americans who moved from countryside to cities and brought baseball with them. Author Peter Morris is a researcher and chronicler of baseball history: he uses primary documents to recreate a lost world and the underlying influences on the rise of baseball as a sport.
 An Anectodal Survey of the Game's Early Days May 23, 2008
A baseball fan knows the outline of the story: Doubleday, Cartwright, The New York Knickerbockers and Cooperstown all converged in 1839 and "baseball" was created. An informed baseball fan knows that this "creation myth" of baseball is bologna. Morris attempts to fill in the questions of the creation myth and produces a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Baseball is generally thought to derive from cricket and rounders. Yet, the links are not direct. In fact, nationwide there were lots of "bat and ball" games being played. Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut all had its specific games that would have resembled modern baseball and cricket. The Knickerbockers, however, published their rules, these written rules therefore could become a template for advancing the sport nationwide.
Morris debunks the idea the Civil War advanced the spread of baseball. It was commonly thought that the soldiers must have passed it on to each other while they had downtime in camps. In fact, he shows that the clubs that played the game dwindled after the war to be rejuvenated only in 1867.
During this pioneer era, Morris makes baseball out to be like church slow-pitch softball. There are the A-teams and the B-teams, each playing to their ability for the enjoyment of the game. Yet, there is the inevitable clash between those that hire players and those who use only townsfolk. Thus, the split between the true amateurs and the professionals and their fans ends the "pioneer days" of baseball.
While Morris sets out that the book is not meant to be a true academic history, I do find two galling oversights in his work. The first is the position of black players in the amateur era. In a brief paragraph, Morris mentions that there was racism that kept black teams from equality with whites. Yet, he does not mention the 1867 by-law to the National Association of Baseball Players that banned "any club which may be composed of one or more colored players." Morris does not see the difference between being ignored and legally excluded from participation. Further, the name Octavius Catto, the pioneer of black baseball in the 1860s is not even mentioned.
The second galling oversight is that of Pittsfield, MA. Four years before publication of this book, a 1791 ordinance was found that banned "Base Ball" from being played within 80 yards of a municipal building. There is no mention of Pittsfield or this document in the work. While probably not "baseball" as we know it today, or even as the 1840s Knickerbockers knew it, the very use of the word should have garnered some notice in a history of early baseball.
These two glaring omisions aside, the work is a fun read. Especially interesting to a baseball fan should be the trajectory of the pitcher and umpire from just another fielder or honored guest into the key player in any play and the hated arbiter. I would still recommend it to any baseball fan; others would probably not enjoy it. 3 1/2 Stars!
Peter Morris debunks the myth about the origins of our national pastime in his delightful new book. May 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It was a tale that had been handed down from father to son for generations. It went something like this: "Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball back in 1839 in the tiny village of Cooperstown in upstate New York." Now my dad certainly had no reason to doubt this version of events. And although I had heard rumblings for decades that the the evolution of baseball encompassed a far more complex series of events there was precious little written on the subject. Author Peter Morris noticed the same thing and decided to do something about it. "But Didn't We Have Fun: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneeer Era 1843-1870" presents a far more plausible scenario of how it all began. This is a book that proves to be at once highly entertaining and extremely informative.
What you will discover in "But Didn't We Have Fun?" is that the game of baseball actually evolved from any number of "ball and stick" games that were popular with youngsters around the country during the 1840's and 1850's. Something called "town ball" was all the rage in a number of eastern cities while "wicket" was the game of choice in Connecticut. Other games being played at the time were "cat ball", "sock ball" and something called the "Massachusetts game". The size of the balls and sticks varied and the rules were certainly different in almost every commmunity. What would eventually come to be known as baseball got a huge boost in the 1840's and 1850's when grown men latched onto the game and formed social clubs whose primary reason for being was playing the game. In this meticulously researched book Peter Morris brings his readers back to those halcyon days when baseball was played simply for enjoyment. You will learn about the legendary Knickerbockers ball club from New York City who took the trouble to write down the first crude set of rules in 1845. I suspect that most folks have never even heard of the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, NJ. The is an extremely important place because Morris argues that it was here that baseball was really born. In addition, you will discover how many of the other most important teams of the era were formed. I was quite surprised to learn that many of these early teams were made up of individuals from particular trades such as railroad workers, bankers, haberdashers etc. who relished the keen competition. As time went on it seems that just about every community had at least one ball team. These clubs were a source of civic pride and the rivalries proved to be quite fierce in many instances. Morris also spends ample time discussing some of the era's most colorful and talented players and sheds light on how what had been largely considered a child's game morphed into a professional sport. Very interesting stuff!
"But Didn't We Have Fun: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era 1843-1870" is an exceptionally well written book. Anyone even remotely interested in the history of baseball will glean a ton of fascinating information from this book that you simply will not find anywhere else. And as an added bonus, Peter Morris does a fabulous job of portraying what life in America was really like during these years. It seems to me that "But Didn't We Have Fun" could be turned into a terrific installment of the PBS series "American Experience". A great gift for the sports fan or the history buff. Highly recommended!
Baseball Book May 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am unable to write a review from personal experience, but I gave the book as a gift to my 54-year-old son who is a great fan of baseball from his childhood. He reports that he found the book "fascinating" because it told of an era of baseball which is not familiar to current fans. After that glowing report, I ordered a second copy to give to a friend. Ruth Doak
Tons on new information April 28, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Simply put, I have over 70 baseball books and Peter Morris's one of the best! You want to know how baseball started? Why Americans played the game? Why and how baseball changed? How it became a pro game? This is the book. Go get it.
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