Date:  Sat, 27 Dec 1997 10:25:24 -0500
From:  Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Rubber game (Was Re: Christmas Potpourri....)

At 03:50 AM 12/27/97 EST, you wrote:
>RUBBER
>
>   Paul Dickson's BASEBALL DICTIONARY says this is "the last and deciding
>game of a series when the previous games have been split." No citations or
>dates are given in the entry. The term may or may not come from poker.
>   This is from the Chicago Times, 12 September 1886, pg. 5, col. 2:
>
>   WON THE RUBBER./Chicago's Base-Ball Artists Take the Deciding Game from
>the Detroit Players.
>

OED2 rubber n.2 has citations back to 1599 in the sense of "decisive game or
round" in many kinds of matches or contests, often the third of three or
fifth of five.

Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu