RARE ANTIQUE VINTAGE 1860-1880's TOWN BALL ACORN KNOB FLAT PADDLE BASEBALL BAT

  

ACORN KNOB, FLAT PADDLE BASEBALL BAT. Minor areas of game wear. The following was found in another listing from a sports memorabilia collector. "TOWN BALL" IS CLOSELY RELATED TO BASE BALL BUT PRE DATES IT BY A FEW DECADES. THIS DISTANT COUSIN TO BASEBALL FEATURED FOUR FOOT HIGH STEAKS INSTEAD OF BASES. AN OUT WAS RECORDED BY A FIELDER HITTING THE RUNNER WITH THE BALL BEFORE HE REACHED A STEAK - THIS WAS KNOWN AS "SOAKING" THE RUNNER.

THE RUNNER COULD AVOID BEING SOAKED BY FLEEING TO ANY PART OF THE FIELD. THERE WAS NO FOUL TERRITORY IN TOWN BALL SO WHEN THE BALL WAS STRUCK THE STRIKER RAN NO MATTER WHERE THE BALL WENT. FIELDERS WERE POSITIONED AROUND THE CATCHER AND IN AREAS THAT WOULD NOW BE FOUL TERRITORY. A TOWN BALL BAT WAS OFTEN SWUNG WITH ONE HAND SO THEY WERE SHORTER THAT A MODERN BASEBALL BAT.

DURING THE 19TH CENTURY, BASE BALL BATS AT TIMES WERE REFERRED TO AS PADDLES. THESE BATS WERE HELPFUL WITH BALL PLACEMENT. BY 1893 FLAT BATS WERE NO LONGER ALLOWED. THIS RARE BAT IS OVER 150 YEARS OLD.