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

But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870
by Peter Morris

But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870
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Book Summary Information

Author: Peter Morris
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2008-03-25
ISBN: 1566637481
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher

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

Book Review: A modern history of early baseball
Summary: 5 Stars

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.

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

But Didn't We Have Fun? covers a period in the early days of baseball that even those who think they know everything about the popular American sport do not know. Peter Morris--an indefatigable researcher and brilliant chronicler, and winner of both the S

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