Official Indoor Baseball Guide CD
	This CD contains 20 rare and historic guides on indoor baseball published by Albert Spalding and his brother in the late 19th and early 20th centuries!

The invention of indoor baseball is credited to George Hancock, a reporter for Chicago Board of Trade, who in 1887 started the game on an old winter day at the Farragut Boat Club.

Popularly known as softball, indoor baseball is really a variant of outdoor version of the game. Hancock introduced 19 special rules that were exclusive to indoor baseball. The Mid Winter Indoor Baseball League of Chicago officially adopted these rules in 1889.

The real impetus for the game, however, came from a fireman from Minneapolis -Louis Rober- who kept his firemen fit by having them play indoor baseball. The game became popular overnight and other fire companies began to play. In 1895, Rober transferred to another fire company and organized a team he called the Kittens.

After being recognized by several names such as ‘Kitten ball’ and ‘Diamond ball’, Walter Hakanson, a Denver YMCA official finally suggested the name softball, which stuck for good.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, The American Sports Publishing Company headed by Albert Spalding published a series of “guides” some of which were aimed at teaching women the nuances of indoor baseball. 

We proudly present this fascinating and historic Sports CD for the millions of die-hard fans of America’s favorite sport, baseball.

Between the late nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries, the American Sports Publishing Company issued works that are widely used by researchers and sports historians - the annuals. These Publications summarized both narratively and statistically, the previous year's history, accomplishments, and records for several sports among which was baseball. Known as Spalding Guides, these publications included guides, advertisements and a fascinating history of the development of everything from baseball gloves, tennis racquets, and ice skates to golf clubs and football cleats.

The twenty Official Indoor Baseball Guides currently presented in this CD are examples of the annuals described above and were published in the years between 1903 and 1926. It is hoped that with the digitalization of the remaining guides, many more guides will be available from this source.

Sample thumbnails taken from the collection.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:

They say necessity is the mother of all inventions and the development of indoor baseball is a classic example of this. Driven indoors by the bitter winters, the game underwent several modifications in rules before emerging as a new sport, which we now recognize as softball.

As in the outdoor version of this immensely popular American sport, the fan following is almost fanatical. Better suited to women than outdoor baseball, indoor baseball soon had a large following among women as well.

History owes a lot for the preservation of the game’s records from the earliest days to one man – Albert Spalding, whose American Sports Publishing Company maintained painstakingly accurate records of not only the annual tournaments but also the changes in rules and modifications of equipment, year after year for several decades. Historians continue to draw inspiration and statistical data from Spalding’s immaculate records of annual baseball tournaments, victories and losses.

This wonderful CD by your company, captures in a very original style, historical records of the game- complete with copies of original documents and list of award winners, not to mention guides on how the game should be played. Photographs, miraculously well preserved are included. In all 20 guides are seen, including one that teaches girls how to play indoor baseball.

Indoor baseball does owe a lot to Albert Spalding for its popularity and I am certain that fans of this increasingly well-liked sport will feel indebted to your company for preserving theses historic guides on a single CD. A truly collectible item for the sports fans in America!

CUSTOMER'S REVIEWS:

"Rarely is the history of a sport recorded in as interesting a style as you witness in the guides in this CD. The American Sports Publishing Company has done the sport an unforgettable service and given fans like me a rare opportunity to witness a historic and endearing account of the early days of baseball. I must say thank you for this great preservation of history on CDs."

Customer's Name: Brian (Los Angeles, California)