Over the first half of the 1800s, a bat and ball sport known as town ball developed in the industrializing cities of the Northeastern United States. With four bases arranged in a diamond and a large group of fielders scattered throughout the field, town ball shares many similarities with the modern game of baseball, and despite Abner Doubleday’s claim to fame, it is almost certain that the sport evolved from the New York variant of the game.
Much like anything that develops over time, the true origin of the New York game is lost to history, the product of a series of innovations on town ball that occurred on a game by game basis.