By 1898 there were many tabletop baseball games on the market, including Chief Zimmer’s which was introduced in 1893–a history of such games can be found here. But not everyone could afford the commercially produced games, so it was not uncommon for newspapers and other publications to provide instructions for creating an inexpensive version at home. The one above, called “Parlor Baseball,” was in The Marion (Ohio) Daily Star.
The paper called it:
“A clever adaptation of the great American game.
“It takes a stretch of the imagination to adapt the robust American game to household entertainment, but this is what is done in Parlor Baseball. Take a large sheet of cardboard and draw on it a baseball diamond, showing the home plate, first, second and third bases. At each of the bases mark off a circular space for the base runners. Each player is supplied with nine pieces, each separate nine being a distinct color. On another rather large piece of cardboard draw a circle divided off into 15 spaces, the lines of division coming together, of course, in the center. Attach an arrow or any other form of indicator to the center of the cardboard.
Baseball History Daily 
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