Pittsfield is "Baseball's Garden of Eden"

Original Document

(Pittsfield, MA) May 11, 2004- The continuing debate about which town gave birth to baseball - Cooperstown, NY, or Hoboken, NJ - is now over.  And the winner is? Pittsfield.     

An original document believed to be the earliest written reference to baseball in North America has been located in the city of Pittsfield's library, the Berkshire Athenaeum.  The reference is contained in a 1791 Pittsfield bylaw, which states that:

"…for the Preservation of the Windows in the New Meeting House . . . no Person or Inhabitant of said town, shall be permitted to play at any game called Wicket, Cricket, Baseball, Football, Cat, Fives or any other game or games with balls, within the Distance of Eighty Yards from said Meeting House."

The possible existence of such a document was brought to light by noted baseball historian John Thorn.  While doing research, Thorn, author and editor of many books including Total Baseball and Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame, uncovered a mention of the bylaw in an 1869 book by J. E. A. Smith entitled The History of Pittsfield, (Berkshire County,) Massachusetts, From the year 1734 to the Year 1800.

"Because the book was produced under the authority of the town," said Thorn, "I had no doubt as to the authenticity of the reference.  I called the Pittsfield City Hall to see if their minute books went all the way back to the eighteenth century, and was informed that they did."

On April 7, 2004, Thorn advised former Major League pitcher Jim Bouton, author of Ball Four and Foul Ball, of Pittsfield’s historic baseball roots.  Bouton, who lives just south of Pittsfield and is involved in the restoration of the city's historic Wahconah Park, encouraged city officials to look for the original document.

Through a request from David Potts, a local history buff, a document was pulled from the Town of Pittsfield, Original Papers collection at the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield's public library, in the Local History and Genealogy Department. At the same time city officials began a search in the basement of City Hall.

On April 23, 2004, a meeting was held in the office of Pittsfield Mayor James Ruberto to discuss the search.  In attendance were the Mayor; Lisa Wiehl, the mayor's assistant; William R. Wilson, Jr., Berkshire Visitors Bureau president and CEO; David Bissaillon, Berkshire Chamber of Commerce president and CEO; David Potts; and Jim Bouton.

Midway through the meeting the Mayor received a call from librarian Ann Marie Harris informing the group that the original source document had been located in the files of the Athenaeum.  Cheers filled the room and "high fives" were exchanged all around.

The document, dubbed the "Broken Window Bylaw," was immediately removed to the Williamstown Art Conservation center for evaluation and authentication.  Eventually, city officials plan to house the document in a baseball museum they want to establish in the city.

"Cooperstown used to brag about inventing baseball in 1839," said Bouton.

"Heck, by 1791 baseball was already a nuisance in Pittsfield."