This weekend I was contacted by a gentleman from MIT who is a SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) member and part of a team working on a study of the expansion of baseball during the Civil War.

This group was familiar with some of my work at Baseball-Almanac and I have agreed to review their draft and provide a listing of primary sources. As I was emailing them, it struck me how different I approach the two styles of history that I write. In hopes that it may help others who may be potentially interested in this subject, I am posting a portion of my email here. I am also hoping my partner Eric Wittenberg will chime in (when time permits) with his thoughts as we are both currently bouncing between these two genres. hint-hint...

As I state below, please excuse the raw nature of the post.

Larry, thank you for sharing your notes with me. They look quite interesting. I will read through them in detail this week, but in the mean time I’ll share with you what little wisdom I can in regards to this type of project.

Please forgive the crude structure of this email, but it is snowing terribly here in central Virginia and I may have to leave soon to guide my son home from work. We are in the country and he is a relatively new driver with zero snow experience. We just don't get these kinds of storms.

After briefly glancing through your piece and reflecting on the previous works of Mr. Kirsch and Miss Millen, I can say that a using a broad perspective, or looking at this through a wide-angle-lens so to speak, may not yield the results that you are looking for. I assume that you are interested in digging deeper than either author has in the past. I applaud both books, but went deeper myself in some instances to showcase the smaller voice and dispel some myths.

The reason I am considered an ‘expert’ in this particular area (= other’s words NOT mine) is because I am one of those rare authors who is BOTH a published baseball and Civil War historian. Therefore I approach BOTH sides of this subject somewhat differently from other historians who are not versed in the dualities of this research. They are VERY different.

You are quite correct that there are not many ‘major’ sources to support the notion of mass expansion of baseball during the War Between the States. These include large circulation newspapers and periodicals like Harper’s Weekly, although there are some mentions of baseball games in rare instances.

That said, you can find MANY primary sources that support the spread of the game at the individual-level. This includes soldier’s and even civilian’s correspondence, letters, diary entries, and memoirs that all depict baseball games being played fairly frequently in encampments, prison camps etc. The details are often very good as the game was something they welcomed discussing.

The key to finding these gems lies in the research. Civil War historians tend to use personal pieces as their primary reference and reinforcements, the little guy’s words, the common solider, staff or civilian recollections that reinforce the bigger, or main idea. Baseball historians tend to do the opposite, relying on the BIG picture in many cases to tell the story. I’ll give you an example…

It would be like if someone wanted to write about Babe Ruth calling his shot, but instead of favoring the recaps in the sports papers and media reports (as a baseball historian usually would) they used the hundreds of memories the fans in the stands recorded, which BTW, often conflict the media’s.

The problem is that most of the witnesses in attendance at that game did not immediately go home and write down their testimonies. During a war however, that is exactly what takes place. People wrote about everything and it was the primary form of mass communication. The challenge is finding these materials to collectively build a foundation for your historical argument.

You may not be able to find 5 newspaper articles presenting baseball games in the field at a particular time or place, but you will find 20 mentions of a game in 20 different letters home from the troops who were stationed there. Yes, it takes a tremendous amount of research to find them, but they are there.

To give you an example of how I go about this and how I will be able to help you. I am currently in the process of finishing my 6th and 7th books. One is a baseball book which you will be interested in (see links at end of email) and the other is another Civil War book, a chronicle.

The CW study is on the Confederate encampments of Spotsylvania County (where I live). I have spent the last week going through my listing of the National Park’s Bound Volumes. They supplied me with a 1000-page catalog PDF and through ‘keyword searches’ I am able to define what primary sources I will need to pull and copy from their collection. By using terms like ‘camps,’ ‘encampment,’ ‘fireside’ etc. I was able the narrow down 147 potential sources. Now when I go to the archives I’ll know what to pull. By doing a quick search of ‘baseball’ the sources are also revealed. Now the digging begins to sort out what is useable.

In the long-format essay that I sent you from Civil War Historian you will note that I quoted several intimate, first-hand accounts. These were provided by the Fort Ward Museum, who has a great collection of these materials. Fort Pulaski also has a wonderful selection of sources on baseball and they reenact CW games there. I’ll get you info on both of these contacts when I send those leads.

My point in all of this is to really see the mass ‘spread’ of the game during the Civil War, you need to get down in the trenches at the individual solider level. There you will find references to the game from both north and south, spread as far apart as New England barracks to Florida prisons.

And THAT will provide the scope of the spread of the game. As troops from the northeastern states shared the game with their peers, it spread south, across the lines and into POW camps, over into Midwestern territories and further southwest. Most on an amateur level of course, but the game grew in understanding and popularity all throughout the conflict.

Perhaps the greatest writer of that era, Walt Whitman also embraced the game’s growth and his words shed light on the ever-growing affection it boasted among the post-war public. Don’t forget, the professional game was NOT that far removed from the war. After all, the year the National League was originally founded Gen. Custer and his troopers of the 7th Cav. (many who were CW vets) fell at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

I wish I had more time to type, but this is all I can offer at the moment. Please visit my website at www.pinstripepress.net for more on both subjects. Per your request, here is a link to a baseball studies page on my site w/ links: http://www.pinstripepress.net/Portfolio.htm Here is a link to my latest baseball book project which is nearing completion: http://www.pinstripepress.net/USTINK.htm

I can send something formal if you like and please feel free to list me. Once again, sorry for the sloppiness, but I’m in the middle of a ‘blizzard’ here in the Old Dominion. I’ll send those sources and commentary as soon as I can. Thanks for your interest and query. I'm off to use my 4-wheel drive.

I'll keep you updated on Larry's project. That is unless I end up in an enbankment. Wish me luck.