The Prehistories of Baseball

Seelochan Beharry (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

332 Seiten

2016
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-0-7864-7797-5 (ISBN)

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An examination of the `prehistory’ of baseball. The earliest forms of the game incorporated the defensive strategies and skills of protecting one's territory against others. The ancient arts of throwing (distance warfare), hitting (close quarters combat), and running (attack and retreat) were incorporated into the game.

Baseball's roots lie deep in our ancestral past. The ancient arts of throwing (distance warfare), hitting (close quarters combat), and running (attack and retreat) were woven into the earliest forms of baseball. Early humans recognized the importance of the sun and sought to placate it with sacrificial offerings, imitating its movements and deifying it. Myths and relics of these foundational practices and beliefs were carried westward across the Old World by Indo-European peoples.

Games for the early British and Continental Europeans (notably the Celts and Druids) served military, religious, social and educational needs. As the Celts and Druids came under the control of the Roman Empire, and later the Christian Church, their customs and practices, including games, fell out of favor. Despite persecution, some folk games survived the millennia under such names as "stool-ball," "tut-ball," and "base-ball."

Descendants of these peoples brought their variant games to the New World where the standardization of various informal rules led to their rapid spread. Baseball, with its underlying beliefs, superstitions and practices, still brings us together with familiar and comforting rituals as we assemble under the sun.

Seelochan Beharry lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Visit his website at http://seelochanbeharry.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

Part I. Primal Beginnings

1. Throwing

2. Hitting

3. Warfare, Games and Play

Part II. Roots and Foundations

4. Baseball Emerges

5. European Roots and North American Expressions

6. Religion, Culture and Sports

7. Grounded in Religion

8. Shaped by Functional, Sacred and Communal Places

9. Special Features of the Diamond and Game

10. Early Language, Folklore and Myths

11. Superstitions and Traditions

Part III. Modern Times

12. Baseball and the Sun

13. Not Mere Observers but Participants

14. Baseball Within Our Culture and Its Relevance Today

Conclusion

Appendix A. A Brief Background of the Early Insular British and Related Peoples

Appendix B. Socio-Economic Conditions Affect Games

Appendix C. Further Documented Descriptions of Rounders, Tut-Ball and Stool-Ball

Appendix D. The Game of Prisoner’s Bars or Prison Base

Appendix E. Roots of the Indo-European Peoples in Ancient India

Appendix F. A Brief Background of the Early Germanic and Scandinavian Peoples

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	24.3.2016
Zusatzinfo	appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	458 g
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Ballsport
Themenwelt	Weitere Fachgebiete ► Sportwissenschaft
ISBN-10	0-7864-7797-0 / 0786477970
ISBN-13	978-0-7864-7797-5 / 9780786477975
Zustand	Neuware