Base-Ball

Ward, John Montgomery, 1860-1925Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 209K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Base-Ball by John Montgomery WardAuthor: Ward, John Montgomery, 1860-1925,Language: English, Class: GV: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Recreation, Leisure, Release Date: Nov 30, 2006

Editor's review

This book was written by the nineteenth-century American baseball figure John Montgomery Ward. Project Gutenberg classifies it under Recreation and Leisure and releases it as a free ebook. Its appeal lies not in literary merit but in the early participant's perspective it preserves, giving readers firsthand material on how the sport was written about in its early years. Readers interested in baseball history, sports culture, or American social life can treat it as a documentary source and observe the terminology, rules discussions, and narrative tone of the period. It need not be read in one sitting; browsing by topic suits it better, and technical expressions can be understood with background knowledge. The electronic edition is fully searchable, making it convenient for excerpts and comparative study. Note that the content carries clear period limitations and should not be used directly as a guide to today's baseball rules or training.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in baseball history and early sports documents
Readers studying American sports culture and social life
Enthusiasts who enjoy reading public-domain materials and making topical excerpts

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking to learn modern baseball rules and tactics
Readers expecting light stories or biographical narrative
General readers with no interest in sports

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and choose chapters on rules, games, or figures
Jot down early terminology as you go and look up meanings afterward
Read alongside reliable baseball histories and distinguish period differences
Read a short section at a time and annotate passages worth quoting

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book about modern baseball?

No. It was written by a nineteenth-century baseball figure and reflects early baseball writing and discussion, with clear differences from contemporary rules and training. It should be read as a historical document.

Can I read it without any baseball background?

Yes, but understanding will be limited. The book involves early terminology and context, which can be difficult without basics. It is advisable to learn basic baseball rules first, or to use it as reference material rather than an introductory text.

Is this book suitable for academic citation?

It can serve as primary material for early baseball texts, but version information should be verified before citation and other research consulted. The Project Gutenberg ebook is searchable and suitable for preliminary excerpts and locating leads.

Comments

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About the author

Ward, John Montgomery, 1860-1925 Author · American · 1860–1925

John Montgomery Ward (1860–1925) was an American professional baseball player who played for teams including the New York Giants. Beyond the field, he also wrote; one work by him is held in this collection, Base-Ball. The book takes baseball as its subject, centering on this sport that was widely popular in the United States, and ranks among the early writings on baseball. Because public information is limited, the details of Ward's life, his educational background, and the full scope of his writing are difficult to describe in depth, and his literary or authorial activities have long lacked systematic study. On the available evidence, his writing is closely tied to his experience as a player and bears a clear mark of its era, offering a reference point for studying American baseball culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Though few in number, his works record the baseball scene of the time from a participant's perspective and have some value as historical material.