Groundbreaking ‘Rules of Base Ball’ Documents Debut This Spring at Museum

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – The rules of baseball remain ingrained in American culture unlike those of almost any other game. But those regulations changed repeatedly as they coalesced in the national consciousness.

Beginning Memorial Day Weekend, visitors to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown will have a first-hand look at an important part of that evolution.

On loan from baseball fan Hayden Trubitt, drafts of rules penned circa 1857 by the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club will be on display in the Museum’s Taking The Field exhibit. Submitted as part of a convention called to codify rules of the emerging national pastime, the handwritten documents address topics still relevant to today’s game such as player movement from team to team and gambling.

These proposed rules, later amended and approved at the convention, also addressed the length of games, formalized nine players to a side, and clarified regulations that were left unaddressed in earlier rule books.

"The players’ successful attempt to unify gameplay among the growing number of baseball-focused social clubs in the New York City area – and also to establish key new rules – was a quantum leap forward for the game we know and love today,” Trubitt said.

The documents, which will be exhibited in a special case designed to preserve their structural integrity, will be formally unveiled in the Museum on Friday, May 22, as part of the Hall of Fame’s Memorial Day Weekend celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

“We are honored and grateful that Hayden Trubitt will provide our Museum guests the opportunity to learn about these documents, how they helped advance the game, and how they remain relevant to baseball today,” said Josh Rawitch, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Our visitors come to Cooperstown to experience baseball history, and these documents mark a critical turning point in the history of our national pastime. It is very appropriate that this story will now be told at the home of baseball.”

The debut of The Rules of Base Ball exhibit, which is included with Museum admission, will be part of a Memorial Day Weekend celebration featuring the Hall of Fame Military Classic: A Salute to Service and Sacrifice. The seven-inning legends game will be held Saturday, May 23, at Cooperstown’s historic Doubleday Field and will feature Hall of Famers and recently retired players. Tickets for the Hall of Fame Military Classic are on sale now online or at 1-888-325-0470 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.