When you were young every kid in America had a dream to make it to the big leagues and get their picture on the great wall of fame in Cooperstown. This great game of baseball that we have all come to know and love is a game that just about every single kid in America has played at some point in their life. But where did this amazing game come from? It’s called America’s pastime for a reason this game has been around forever. “Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York”, is what I thought when I started writing this paper and is what every kid around America thinks. I mean why wouldn’t they? This man has been credited to have made the best sport in today’s society, but this statement is false. Alber Doubleday did not invent baseball. In fact, another game closely related to baseball was played almost 100 years before Alber Doubleday “created” this game.
The first time people played “baseball” was in 1791 when a bylaw was playing about 80 yards of the townhouse. This game, however; was not baseball as we know it today it was a game called stoolball, the earliest form of baseball. Stoolball was a game that was often used for teenagers as an early form of pin the bottle, but it was also a form of baseball. The game is played we a batter stands in front of a stool. The other player pitches him the ball. If the batter hits the ball and it was caught he was out, or f the pitcher hits one of the legs of the stool he was out. I think it’s safe to say the game has evolved since then. The earliest stage of baseball was played in England around the 18th century. It didn’t make its way to America until the early 19th century. It wasn’t called baseball, though; it was called “townball”. The first set of written rules were put into place by Alexander Cartwright in 1845. Interestingly enough most of his rules are still in today’s evolution of baseball.
In 1846 te first ever baseball game was played. It was a contest between the Knickerbockers, coached by Cartwright, and a New York Baseball Club, which ended up winning the game. In 1858 the players made the first-ever baseball organization called the National Association of Base Ball Players. During the civil war the number of teams dropped off dramatically, but, because of soldiers fighting in different cities, the game got introduced to the south. After the war, the number of people playing baseball was at an all-time high. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first professional team and recruited the very best players from around the United States. The team went 65-0 and the proposition of paying players caught on quick. Within two years of Cincinnati making a pro team, there was a whole league of paid players. This new league became known as the National Association. The Association started off with only a few teams and grew from there.
Many other baseball leagues have tried tp fo ver the years. None, however; were as popular as the National League. The Union association formed in 1884 was short-lived before it was disbanded a year after its debut. In 1901 they formed another rival league called the American league. This new league threatened the National league by raiding their players. The National League began to suffer and turn o each other. Finally, after years of uncertainty, the two leagues merged and became what we know as the MLB.
The change of the ball from what became known as the “dead ball” to what is known today hanged the way the game was played by changing how far the ball was hit. This new ball changed the whole team’s policies on how the game was being played. Owners now wanted to get players who were big to hit home runs instead of a player who was fast. Over the years the game has changed immensely. From a new organization to a new ball to new players being drafted.
