- Title: Baseball? Poles say it all began with their "palant"
- Date: 16th July 2019
- Summary: SOPOT, POLAND (JULY 13, 2019) (REUTERS) SIGN ON T-SHIRT READING (Polish): "#PALANT IS BACK" AND DRAWING OF PALANT PLAYER BALL BEING THROWN AND HIT WITH BAT CHAIRMAN OF POLISH PALANT SOCIETY, LUKASZ SZYMBORSKI HITTING BALL WITH BAT LOCAL RESIDENT, ANNA DABKOWSKA HITTING BALL WITH BAT AND RUNNING VARIOUS OF DABKOWSKA RUNNING TO BASE TENNIS BALLS ON GRASS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PLAYING TRADITIONAL POLISH FOLK GAME CALLED 'PALANT' (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) CHAIRMAN OF POLISH PALANT ASSOCIATION, LUKASZ SZYMBORSKI, SAYING: "You need a wooden bat, it is shorter (ed's note: than the baseball bat) it is 66 centimetres (2 feet) long. The handle is shorter as well, not as long as the one in baseball. And this bat is light, it weighs about 300 grams and everyone can use the same bat to play, children, as you could see during the training, elderly, women, men, everyone gets a kick out of this game because what matters here is how quick and how hard you hit the ball, it is not about giving speed to a heavy bat (ed's note: like in baseball). It is important to hit the ball at least once." MAN HITTING BALL WITH BAT SZYMBORSKI CATCHING BALL DURING PALANT GAME VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PRACTICING HITTING BALL WITH PALANT BAT SZYMBORSKI TRAINING BOY HOW TO HIT WITH BAT WOMAN HITTING BALL WITH PALANT BAT BOY TRYING TO HIT BALL WITH BAT GIRLS PRACTISING HITTING BALL (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) CHAIRMAN OF POLISH PALANT ASSOCIATION, LUKASZ SZYMBORSKI, SAYING: "The main rule (ed's note: differentiating 'palant' and baseball) is the way of throwing the ball. In baseball, we have a pitcher who throws the ball and a batter who hits it. In palant, you hold the bat in one hand and the ball in the other and you decide about everything." VARIOUS OF DABKOWSKA HITTING BALL (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) CHAIRMAN OF POLISH PALANT ASSOCIATION, LUKASZ SZYMBORSKI, SAYING: " Norman Davies (ed's note: British historian) in his book "God's Playground" made a hypothesis that baseball probably originated from a game which is 200 years older, the 'palant' game brought to the U.S. by Polish emigrants." PEOPLE PLAYING PALANT GAME MAN RUNNING TO REACH BASE (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) CHAIRMAN OF POLISH PALANT ASSOCIATION, LUKASZ SZYMBORSKI, SAYING: "We play with the widely available tennis balls, We are reviving this sport, so we need the equipment accessible to everyone. The balls are also used from the tennis courts. In the early times, a ball made of horse skin and filled with horsehair was used. Now we are bringing this game into general use and we play with tennis balls." DABKOWSKA FAILING TO HIT BALL WITH BAT VISITOR FROM LEICESTER, ENGLAND, CHRIS SIWEK HITTING BALL WITH BAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITOR FROM LEICESTER, ENGLAND, CHRIS SIWEK, SAYING: "It's very similar to rounders (British bat-and-ball game) and I used to play it at school. It's slightly different, but as you saw, I can't play very well." VARIOUS OF SZYMBORSKI STICKING PROTECTIVE TAPE AROUND BAT'S HANDLE VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENT, AGNIESZKA WENTA HITTING BALL WITH BAT (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) LOCAL RESIDENT, AGNIESZKA WENTA, SAYING: "I used to play palant in primary school, at some sports camps. It was always a form of group entertainment. So, I had something to do with palant before, but the school ended and I didn't have time for that and no people were willing to play." PEOPLE PLAYING PALANT DABKOWSKA HITTING BALL DABKOWSKA RUNNING TOWARDS BASE (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) LOCAL RESIDENT, ANNA DABKOWSKA, SAYING: "The will to play and positive attitude is the most important in this game. You come with humour and everyone can play this game and it is fun because the endorphins get released, as you can see I am all smiley and happy because I like getting tired in a positive way." VARIOUS OF GIRL HITTING BALL WITH BAT PLAYERS TEAMED UP CHEERING LOGO OF POLISH PALANT SOCIETY (PSPAL) ON T-SHIRT
- Embargoed: 30th July 2019 10:23
- Keywords: baseball tradition bat-and-ball game Polish game palant game
- Location: SOPOT, POLAND
- City: SOPOT, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001AO12TRT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: With a wooden bat in one hand, and a tennis ball in the other, a group of Polish enthusiasts are on a mission to revive a bat-and-ball game called 'palant', claimed to be the predecessor of U.S. baseball.
The Polish Palant Society (PSPal) is breathing life back into this traditional Polish game, which dates back to the Middle Ages, by organising free training sessions and educating people on rules and equipment.
PSPal's chairman, Lukasz Szymborski said the surprising Polish connection to baseball appears in the historical book by Norman Davies, "God's Playground: A History of Poland".
"He made a hypothesis that baseball probably originated from a game which is 200 years older, the game 'palant' brought to the U.S. by Polish emigrants," Szymborski added.
According to Davies, the first Polish settlers who landed in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608, brought their own national game of palant to the U.S. with them. This could have led to the rise of the primitive version of baseball on American soil.
Even though there seem to be many similarities between baseball and 'palant', such as the bases, running and ball-striking, Szymborski says the equipment and rules differ slightly.
Palant was popular in the countryside because all the equipment needed to play it was a ball.
The first palant players would use any form of the wooden stick to play the game, such as sticks or fence planks. As for the pitch, it was marked out on any flat space using buildings around such as barns or stables as the posts.
"The main difference between palant and baseball is the way of throwing the ball. In baseball, we have a pitcher who throws the ball, in palant, you hold the bat in one hand and the ball in the other and you throw the ball yourself," explained Szymborski.
There are many bat-and-ball games around Europe similar to 'palant' or baseball, such as Germany's 'Schlagball', Romanian 'Oina' or British 'Rounders'.
(Production: Malgorzata Wojtunik, Louisa Naks) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None