As if ruining the landscape of American rock 'n' roll with Oasis wasn't bad enough, now those wacky British folks have figured out that our national pastime of 'base-ball' is, in fact, a British creation. It seems some dweebs at the Surrey History Centre (that's the British -re, not the American -er, so you know it's classy) dug up a new manuscript that they consider evidence that the sport Albert Pujols plays should be enjoyed over tea and crumpets, not hot dogs and Miller Lite:
A diary entry which talks about a game played in Guildford, Surrey in 1755 has been verified as authentic by the Surrey History Centre.
The handwritten entry was discovered in the diary of lawyer William Bray and documents a game with friends on Easter Monday of that year when he was still a teenager.
So? Big whoop. Baseball started in the United States in the late eighteenth century. This is historical fact. Whatever game they played in England was probably closer to cricket than what we consider baseball today. So they used the word "base" and married it to the word "ball". Whatever reference to that word doesn't matter, because the British smell funny and have horrid teeth. Race Relations Thursday!
Julian Pooley, the manager of Surrey History Centre, was able to verify that the document was genuine because he is an expert on Bray and is responsible for a vast array of diaries written by the solicitor and local historian between 1756 and 1832.
Sounds like someone is telling fibs to increase his own notoriety and renown. Alright, Pooley, we know you forged those diaries. Own up. We know you Brits will do anything to denigrate America's favorite sport. After all, isn't it strange that the 2012 London Olympics will be the first ones in 24 years without baseball?