[quote]Earlier this month, American baseball historian David Block discovered that the first recorded game of "Bass-Ball" took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. In 1918, a game between the US Navy and Army at Chelsea FC's Stamford Bridge stadium attracted 38,000 fans, including King George V. After World War II, however, baseball's popularity in the UK declined, while the game began to gain popularity on the continent. [/quote] [quote]However, English baseball played in the 18th and 19th centuries was very different to the modern game popular in the US. Mr Block said: "The ball was much softer than today's and instead of a bat, the palm of the batter's hand was used to strike the ball." [/quote] Because we can. Well you learn something new everyday. I thought it was America's answer to cricket but turns out it's just another sport we invented and suck at. In school we called it rounders and mainly girls played it.