The Massachusetts Game
The first known organized game of baseball in the United States was played between two eight-man teams on Boston Common in 1838. The bases were marked by stakes, called bounds. The "diamond" was a rectangle, 60 by 45 feet, and the batter stood 27 feet from fourth bound and only 18 feet from first bound. The pitcher was 45 feet away.
There were only five fielders. Three of them manned the first three posts and the other two played rather shallow outfield positions. One catcher was stationed some distance back of the batter and behind him there was a second catcher--no doubt because there was no foul territory, so balls hit backward had to be chased down and thrown back into play just like balls hit to the outfield.
Beyond that, nothing is known about the rules except that 21 runs by one team meant victory. However, if the first team to bat scored 21 runs, it continued hitting, because the second team was given a chance to tie or surpass the score.
Undoubtedly, other early games in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England used similar rules. By about 1850, the so-called Massachusetts game was a clearly defined version of baseball. The 45-foot basepath between second and third bound had been increased to 60 feet, the batter was now halfway between fourth and first, and the pitcher was only 30 feet away.
The ball was rather small and light, only 6 inches in circumference (the modern baseball is 9 to 9-1/2 inches) and 2-1/4 ounces in weight (compared to 5 to 5-1/4 ounces). It had a cork or rubber center, wrapped in yarn with a cover of calfskin.
A team was made up of anywhere from 10 to 14 players. There were, of course, many local variations, but the usual rule was "one out, all out"; in other words, if a single hitter was retired, the team's inning was over.
Threatened by the growth of the rival "New York Game," ten teams met at Dedham, near Boston, in May of 1858 to form the Massachusetts Association of Base Ball Players, which was committed to perpetuating the Massachusetts game.
The New York game quickly won over converts even in Boston, however, and by the end of the Civil War the Massachusetts game was virtually extinct. The overhand pitch, which was allowed in most versions of the game, was its one legacy to modern baseball.