France’s National Game?

Baseball, according to a new book, Baseball Before We Knew It, was not born in America (sorry Mr. Doubleday), not a derivation of the English game of rounders (as previously thought), and its rules were not first codified by Alexander Cartwright and the New York Knickerbockers (strike three!). So what’s the truth? It seems our national pastime evolved from a British game called, er, baseball. Where’d English baseball come from? The trail is long, and leads to a variety of medieval bat and ball games, some even born in—banish the thought—France. We recommend the NYTBR excellent review. Find it here.