t derives its name, is the "rounder"
itself, meaning that whenever one of the "in" side makes a complete
continuous circuit of the bases, or, as it would be called in Base Ball,
a "home run," he thereby reinstates the entire side; it then becomes
necessary to begin over again to retire each one of the side at bat,
until all of them have been put out. If Base Ball had been derived from
Rounders, it would be likely to show in its history some trace of this
distinctive feature of the English game. But no such feature has ever
appeared in Base Ball or its antecedents.[96]

All these considerations, with much else, entered into the discussions
of the special Base Ball commission. The final decision of the
commission was unanimous, and was published early in 1908.[97] The
decision covered two points, the first rejecting the alleged connection
with Rounders, the second fixing the time and place of the origin of
Base Ball in America. Under the first head the commission decided "that
Base Ball is of American origin, and has no traceable connection
whatever with 'Rounders,' or any other foreign game."

It was the second point in the decision, however, that added historic
lustre to a village already famous in romance. The commission decided
"that the first scheme for playing Base Ball, according to the best
evidence obtainable to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at
Cooperstown, N. Y., in 1839."

Up to the time of this investigation it had been supposed that the
modern game of Base Ball originated in New York City, where the game was
played in a desultory sort of way by the young business men as early as
1842, although the first rules were not promulgated until the
organization of the old Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845. But Abner
Graves, a mining engineer of Denver, convinced the commission that the
real origin of the game must be sought elsewhere.

Graves was a boy playfellow of Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown in 1839.
He was present when Doubleday outlined with a stick in the dirt the
present diamond-shaped Base Ball field, indicating the location of the
players in the field; and afterward saw him make a diagram of the field
on paper, with a crude pencil memorandum of the rules for his new game,
which he named "Base Ball." Although sixty-eight years had passed since
that time Graves distinctly remembered the incident, and recalled
playing the game, with other boys, under Abner Doubleday's direction.

Doubleday's gam