• Medieval stoolball was a game played by milkmaids as early as the 11th century
• While the rules are somewhat primitive, it certainly can be the “seeds” to how baseball originated
• If nothing else it appears stoolball was the ancestor of cricket

It appears that medieval stoolball may be the precursor to many bat-and-ball sports we know today such as cricket and baseball. Medieval stoolball dates back to at least the 15th century and possibly as far back as the 11th century. It is said that milkmaids invented the game and used milking stools as the wickets hence the name stoolball. So was baseball born from stoolball? The “purists’ of baseball will likely never consider the idea; however, we’ll take a look at how it is played, the similarities, and if it is plausible that stoolball was how baseball originated.

History of Medieval Stoolball

Stoolball was being played as early as the 11th century in England. In some regions it was also known as stowball and stob-ball. The words “stow” and “stob” were used to describe tree stumps in certain regions. It is believed that the game was originally played with tree stumps being used as bases or wickets.

The object of the game was to defend the stool or stump. A “batsman” would stand in front of the stool while a “bowler” threw a ball at it. If the ball hit the stool, the batsman was out. If the batsman hit the ball, sometimes using their hand and sometimes a bat-like object, he scored a run for his team. Another version has the batter running back and forth between two stools on a successful hit while the opposing team tried to get him out. Lastly, there was a version that used four stools and the batter had to run around all four to score a point. This last version was played in early America and is believed to be how the idea for baseball originated.

The Current Rules of Stoolball

Stoolball is played on a field of grass with a 90-yard (82-meter) boundary and a 16-yard (14.5-meter) pitch similar to cricket. The bowler, “pitcher” in baseball, is positioned 10-yards (9-meters) from the batsman who’s positioned in front of the stool or wicket. The bowler throws an underhand pitch much like softball at the stool and tries to hit it. The batsman’s goal is to protect the stool from being struck by hitting the ball with a pan-shaped bat. If the bowler hits the wicket, the batsman is called “out.” If the batsman successfully hits the ball, he scores runs by running between the stools.

The batsman can also score runs if he by hits the ball beyond the boundary similar to a homerun in baseball. If the ball bounces over the boundary line, it counts as 4 runs scored and if it clears the boundary line in the air it is worth 6 runs. The fielders try to catch the ball and get the batter out or in the case of a ground ball hit the stool with the ball while the batsman is running.

So, have you decided yet? Was baseball born from stoolball? I believe only the original baseball game designers knew the answer to this question.

As an electronic scoreboards continue to light up.