I recently visited the small, New England town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts for a wedding.  The main street of the town evokes a turn of the century kind of a feel - Ma and Pa run diners, shoe repair shops, glowing marquees of single screen theatres, and not a Starbucks in sight.  It was a nice change and I was immediately in love with the town.

Pittsfield, however, has cemented its place in history for an ordinance that was passed there in 1791, where the towns lawmakers wrote, “no inhabitant of said town shall be permitted to play at any game called wicket, cricket, base ball, bat ball or any other game or games with balls within the distance of eighty yards of the Meeting House…”  This is the first reference to baseball in American history, dating back to when Washington was still in office, and it sorely debunks the myth of Abner Doubleday inventing the game.

I thought it was appropriate, and rather ironic, that I be invited to a wedding in a town I had never even heard of before but is significant in American history for its mention of baseball.  I think it’s a sign that this journey was meant to happen.