l be out--if the ball is in the
hands of an adversary on the base, as the runner is touched by it before
he makes his base; it being understood, however, that in no instance is a
ball to be thrown at him.

"Sec. 8--A player running who shall prevent an adversary from catching or
getting the ball before making his base is a hand out.

"Sec. 9--If two hands are already out, a player running home at the time
the ball is struck cannot make an ace if the striker is caught out.

"Sec. 10--Three hands out, all out.

"Sec. 11--Players must take their strike in regular turn.

"Sec. 12--No ace or base can be made on a foul strike.

"Sec. 13--A runner cannot be put out in making one base when a balk is
made by the pitcher.

"Sec. 14--But one base allowed when the ball bounds out of the field when
struck."

The Pioneer Baseball Club.

The pioneer club to play under the rules was the Knickerbockers. On June
19, 1846, the first match game ever played took place at Hoboken, New
Jersey. It consisted of four innings, the rule being that the club that
first made twenty-one runs should be awarded the game.

The sport prospered and the organization of the Knickerbockers was
followed by the Gothams in 1850, and then by such familiar names to
oldtimers as the Eckfords, of Greenpoint, and Unions, of Morrisania, in
1855.

The club idea spread eastward. In 1854 the Olympic Club was formed in
Boston, and for a year this was the only one in the field in New England.
The coming of 1855, however, found the Elm Trees ready to dispute the
Olympics' claims of superiority, and the first match game of baseball ever
played in New England was that in which these teams met. In 1856 the Green
Mountain Club was formed, and several exciting games were played between
that club and the Olympics on Boston Common.

The "New York" game had become so popular that clubs were formed in every
locality. It was seen then, that in order to give solidity to it, a
controlling body was necessary. This was done in May, 1857, in New York
City, when a convention of players was held and rules for the season
adopted. That year the Trimountains of Boston was organized and was the
first of the New England clubs to play the New York game.

In 1858 another convention was held in New York, and here the National
Association of Baseball Players came into existence. The first annual
meeting was held in Cooper Institute, March 9, 1859, when many practical
suggestions an