新奇事件簿 棒球并非起源美国

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Historians in England have uncovered evidence that baseball may not be as American as apple pie. The BBC reports that baseball was played in England in 1755, more than twenty years before America’s independence in 1776. This may come as a shock for lovers of America’s national game, who believe baseball is an American creation. A recently discovered diary is “proof” that Englishmen were hitting home runs 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 and that it contains an entry describing the game of baseball. The BBC says Major League Baseball officials are aware of this news.

英格兰史学家证实棒球并非源自美国。根据BBC报道，棒球于1755年在英格兰兴起，比1776年美国独立还早了20年。这对于将棒球看作国球的美国人民而言，的确是一个不小的打击，他们深信棒球起源美国。根据近期发现的日志证明，英格兰人打全垒打的时间要长于大西洋彼岸的兄弟。日志作者名叫威廉·布雷，他写到人们在伦敦南部的萨里县打棒球。据萨里历史研究中心证实，这部日志是真品，其中有一篇写到了棒球。BBC称美国职棒大联盟官员得知了这一消息。

It will come as no surprise to many sports fans that baseball originated 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 original form of baseball was played by both sexes. 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 baseball came from Britain. He said: “It's a great American tradition to take things from other places and improve them. We've always known that baseball evolved; it wasn't invented like basketball.” Despite the recent discovery, it seems unlikely that England will overtake the USA as the number one baseball power.

对于许多体育迷而言，棒球源自英格兰不足为奇。英格兰是许多热门运动发源地，包括足球、网球、橄榄球以及板球。但或许让人惊讶的是，最初的棒球运动也有女性参与。在威廉·布雷的日志中，描写了一场春天午后棒球赛，里面有对年轻女子参与比赛的描写。《华盛顿邮报》记者凯文·苏里文对BBC表示，他对棒球起源英国并不感到惊讶。他认为：“美国一直是从其它地区吸取“营养”，并加以改善，这是美国的传统。我们知道棒球经历了许多变革；它的起源不同于篮球。”除了这次发现，英格兰似乎还无法撼动美国棒球大国的地位。