On a cold and blustery day in November 1887, a group of Chicagoans were eagerly awaiting inside the Farragut Boat Club for the telegraphed results of the Harvard-Yale football game. George W. Hancock was one of their number, and while waiting he created a game that used a boxing glove for a ball and a broomstick for a bat. This game was known as indoor base ball, and it was the predecessor to the...