Early baseball in The Netherlands/Game 1
From SABR Encyclopedia
Spread of baseball: Home -> The Netherlands -> Early baseball in The Netherlands/Game 1 |
Location | The Netherlands |
---|---|
Year | 1905 |
Note on date | Year is approximate |
Country | The Netherlands |
Was NY rules baseball | Unknown |
Played by | Unknown |
Unlike most other countries in Europe where the sport was launched and pushed by Americans, Holland's first substantial introduction to the game came from a true Dutchman. Although baseball had been played sporadically in the Netherlands begining sometime around 1905, it was J. C. C. Grase, an Amsterdam native, who planted the sport firmly in Holland in the 1910s. . . . It probably helped that Grase pointed out that baseball bore a resemblance to an ancient Dutch game, called 'tripball,' which had been played by American colonists. Holland, like England, Poland, Russia, Germany and others, can lay claim to the roots of baseball."
Josh Chetwynd, Baseball in Europe (McFaraland, 2008), page 14.