But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870 (Hardcover)

by Peter Morris (Author) "The Knickerbocker Club of New York City first took up baseball around 1843, and historians now unanimously credit this club's members with a major role..." (more)
Key Phrases: muffin games, base hall, pioneer era, New York, Civil War, Red Stockings (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Morris (Game of Inches) explores the earliest days of baseball through the voices of players and journalists who wrote about it in the 27-year period in the mid-19th century before professional baseball emerged. The earliest versions of bat-and-ball games—some of the variants are town ball, wicket and even patch ball—were eventually displaced and standardized in 1845 when the Knickerbocker Club of New York City published rules that eliminated such practices as throwing the ball and hitting a base runner (an act sometimes known as soaking) to make an out. The text is an intriguing study for students of baseball history curious about how aspects of the game developed, such as the foul ball, sliding, balls and strikes, and the role of the umpire. As the game spread from its origins in New York and its popularity grew, Morris writes that two factors brought the pioneer era of amateur play to an end: the Civil War and the increasing seriousness of players who changed games from ceremonial pastime to cutthroat competitions. Morris has done vast research and quotes many of his sources at length. His focus on a detailed account of baseball's development, however, does not provide much insight into the people who played the game. (Mar.)
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Review
"An entertaining, enlightening journey. For fans and non-fans alike, Morris's book serves as an interesting window into the leisure culture of the nation leading up to and following directly after the Civil War." -- Wilson McBee, PopMatters

"As the pages turn, professional baseball comes together before our eyes, and a bunch of diverse tributaries of proto-baseball flow, year by year, into the mighty, formalized, commercial river that we know today as the National Pastime." -- Ted Anthony, Associated Press

"Dedicated statistics geeks will revel in the seemingly inexhaustible supply of arcane facts and figures.... A useful reference for diehard baseball historians." -- Kirkus

"Entertaining and informative, I think Morris is headed for another medal." -- Will Carroll

"Morris's study of baseball's evolution during its pre-professional years is a model of careful scholarship, use of original sources, and elegant writing." -- Choice

"Peter Morris takes us on a fascinating and highly entertaining journey through the earliest ... days of our National Pastime." -- Donald Honig

"Sure to be popular. A fine addition to all collections." -- Library Journal

"Thanks to Peter Morris, now we know that the game's pioneer days ... might have been the richest of them all." -- Rob Neyer

"[Peter Morris is] one of America's preeminent baseball historians. But Didn't We Have Fun? is exhaustively researched and artfully written." -- Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius,and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players and Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America's Heartland

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher; 1st Printing edition (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566637481
• ISBN-13: 978-1566637480
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #168,085 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern history of early baseball, March 7, 2008

By	Richard Hershberger (Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The study of early baseball has made great strides the past couple of decades. Our knowledge is both broader and deeper than before. There has been a steady trickle of work by academic historians, a flow of work by amateurs (some of it excellent) and a community of researchers gathered under the aspices of the Society for American Baseball Research and its 19th century committee.

By the nature of things it takes a while for such knowledge to work its way from specialists to books for the general reader. There have books published quite recently that could have been written forty years ago.

There are numerous possible examples illustrating this point. Perhaps the best is the anachronistic expectation that early baseball players and organizations were motivated pretty much like modern baseball players and organizations. We often see sniggering condescension at the early Knickerbockers for wasting their time on banquets when they should have been practicing. The implicit assumption is that their motivation was to win games, but they kept getting distracted; or if this wasn't their motivation, it should have been. This is a hopeless way to approach history, and utterly commonplace. If we are to understand the Knickerbockers we need to understand their motivations, not impose our modern expectations on them.

It is a great pleasure to see in Peter Morris's new book. He makes available recent work, combined with his knack for ferretting out an impressive collection of old accounts. He puts the familiar events into context, and allows us to approach the early players on their own terms. This is a modern history of early baseball.

This isn't to say that there are no points to disagree on. There certainly are interpretations that can be disputed. This isn't the final word on the subject, but that isn't the point. This is part of an ongoing conversation, now made available to anyone interested.

As always, Morris's writing is admirably readable. Early baseball geeks will keep a bookmark to refer to the endnotes nearly every page, but there is no need for the less obsessive to notice them.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tons on new information, April 28, 2008

By	Marc Ranger "Baseball fan" (québec, canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars But Didn't We Have Fun, April 28, 2008

By	Lydia Muxworthy - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For a baseball fan, especially for one interested in the history of the game, this anecdotal history is informative as well as great fun. The author is to be congratulated. It is a great addition to any baseball library.

J Paul Muxworthy