The Ball Game

The Ball Game is an 1898 American short black-and-white silent documentary sports film produced and distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. It was directed by William Heise.

Synopsis
The film contains footage of an 1898 baseball game between Reading Coal Heavers and the Newark Bears. The camera is situated twenty feet from the bag and a short extract of the game is then filmed.

Current status
Given its age, this short film is available to freely be downloaded from the Internet. It has also featured in a number of film collections including Diamonds on the Silver Screen.