棒球并非美国人发明
Historians in England have shown evidence that baseball may not be an American invention. The BBC reports that baseball was played in England in 1755, twenty-one years before America’s independence. This may come as a shock for lovers of the America’s national game, who believe baseball is an American creation.
A recently discovered diary is “proof(证据)” that Englishmen were hitting home runs(全垒打) long before their cousins across the Atlantic. The diarist was a man called William Bray, who wrote about the game being played in the county of Surrey, south of London. The Surrey History Centre confirmed the diary was authentic(真实的) and that it has an entry describing the game of baseball. The BBC says Major League Baseball officials are aware of this news.
It will come as no surprise to many sports fans that baseball first appeared in England. The English invented the world’s most popular sports, including football, tennis, rugby and cricket. What might come as a surprise is that the beginning form of baseball was played by both men and women. William Bray’s diary describes a game of baseball played on a spring afternoon in which “young ladies” took part.
A Washington Post journalist, Kevin Sullivan, told the BBC that he was not surprised that baseball came from England. He said, “It’s a great American tradition to take things from other places and improve them. We’ve always known that baseball was brought in and improved; it wasn’t invented like basketball.” Despite the recent discovery, it seems unlikely that England will overtake America as the number one baseball power.