jane austen invented baseball

Jane Austen Invented Baseball, Part the Third

Standard

It’s not just us. The Seattle Mariners fan blog Lookout Landing posted an All-Jane Austen Team, made up of actual major league baseball players, based on whether their names made them sound like a character in a Jane Austen novel.

But we want to know: where is Sir Chase Utley (principal seat: Utley’s Corner in Rightfieldshire, where he lives with his delightful wife, Lady Jen)? Because Chase is SUCH a Darcy–check this out. He makes up for it by saving Lydia puppies, remember, not to mention the sweetest home run swing in MLB.

Many thanks to Alert Janeites Joelle and Genevieve for the link. We also enjoyed Genevieve’s comment in the other baseball thread:

I believe that some of the Irish first names (Ryan, Kyle, Craig) and the more modern first names (Hayden, Chad, Justin) don’t belong in Austen, but some of these are excellent fits, such as Thomas James Everidge, Robert Nicholas Blackburn, and Adam Parrish Wainwright. I believe they may have been Kitty and Mary’s suitors.

Makes sense to us. The proof continues to pile up. JANE AUSTEN INVENTED BASEBALL. Spread the news!

More Proof, If You Needed It, That Jane Austen Invented Baseball

Standard

Jane Austen is a Phillies fanWe already know about the presence of the word(s) “base ball” in the first chapter of Northanger Abbey, the first piece of proof that, since she was the first writer to mention it, Jane Austen must have invented the Great American Pastime; but the Editrix has stumbled across yet more proof that Jane Austen indeed invented base ball.

From Persuasion, Volume I, Chapter 9:

A dinner at Mr. Musgrove’s had been the occasion when all these things should have been seen by Anne; but she had staid at home, under the mixed plea of a headache of her own, and some return of indisposition in little Charles. She had thought only of avoiding Captain Wentworth; but an escape from being appealed to as umpire as now added to the advantages of a quiet evening.

We’re just saying.