Excerpt from Richter's History and Records of Base Ball: The American Nation's Chief Sport Without boast or apology is laid before the base ball-loving public of America, by the undersigned, Founder and Editor of Sporting Life, the oldest and best organ of the great sport of Base Ball, this History and Records of Base Ball. This volume is designed to supply the growing need of a concise, yet complete, record of our National Game, from its remote inception and humble beginning to the present period of magnificent develop ment to real national stature. It is also designed to serve this purpose in such form as to make it valuable, possibly indispensa ble, as a book of special information, of ready reference, and of general interest to all lovers and students of the great game. This book is also designed to preserve in compact form the invaluable playing records of the sport, heretofore so scattered and so neglected that they were in danger of becoming obscured, reduced to mere tradition, or lost altogether. From this stand point this History and Records of Base Ball I believe to be necessary, timely, and unique; and it is therefore submitted with out apology. Of the merit of my work I make no boast, leaving the reader to judge that; and no further comment than to state that if it meets with public approval I shall feel deeply grateful, as well as amply rewarded for what has been to me a labor of love for, and devotion to, a sport to which I have given the willing service of a lifetime. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.