Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Birth of Baseball and Elysian Fields

On this date in 1846, the first baseball game with set rules was played in Hoboken, N.J., at Elysian Field, a park that shared names with the paradise of ancient myth. Is Hoboken really like heaven? Hear NPR's Scott Simon and classics commentator Elaine Fantham.

Copyright 2004 NPR

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.