Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "History of baseball in the United States" in English language version.
In 2004, baseball historian John Thorn discovered the 1791 town ordinance, putting Pittsfield's connection to baseball 48 years before Abner Doubleday accepted invention of the game in 1839 in Cooperstown, N.Y., where the National Baseball Hall of Fame now stands. The Hall of Fame recognized the ordinance as the first known reference to the game and honored the town with a plaque.
Most of the 16 major league teams in the early 20th century didn't solidify their nicknames until the end of the dead ball era in the early 1920s.
In the game's wild and tumultuous early decades, names tended to be quite fluid. Cleveland itself is an example of that, with the franchise known as the Blues (short for Bluebirds) in the inaugural season of the American League in 1901, then briefly the Bronchos and then the Naps, in honor of Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie, who played for the club from 1902–14 and also managed it for part of that time. It wasn't until Lajoie's departure that Cleveland became the Indians.
…for the Preservation of the Windows in the New Meeting House … no Person or Inhabitant of said town, shall be permitted to play at any game called Wicket, Cricket, Baseball, Football, Cat, Fives or any other game or games with balls, within the Distance of Eighty Yards from said Meeting House.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)…for the Preservation of the Windows in the New Meeting House … no Person or Inhabitant of said town, shall be permitted to play at any game called Wicket, Cricket, Baseball, Football, Cat, Fives or any other game or games with balls, within the Distance of Eighty Yards from said Meeting House.