What are the Origins of Baseball?
Posted on 17. Jan, 2011 by admin in Sports
While there are several different viewpoints regarding the actual origin of baseball and MLB odds, there are some very interesting facts and names associated with its development especially in the United States.
Baseball is believed to have developed from the game of rounders played in England in 1745. This game had 2 teams of 9 players with one team in the field and the other at bat. Russia had a similar game in the 14th century. The first game in America was in 1846 between the New York Nine and The Knickerbockers. Alexander Cartwright, a member of the Knickerbockers team, is credited with establishing the first set of rules.
The 1st Professional Base Ball League was formed in 1871 continuing until the name was changed to The National League in 1876. By the early 1880s the game was gaining popularity in the United States even though historical records contain information about baseball being played by troops during the American Civil War. In 1869 the 1st professional team was The Cincinnati Red Stockings which continues play today as The Cincinnati Reds. In 1903 an agreement was reached between the American and National Leagues known as ‘the World Series Agreement’.
Original regulations banned non-white players with this rule remaining in force until around 1947 when Jackie Robinson signed to play with The Brooklyn Dodgers. While Jackie Robinson is hailed as the first modern African-American player, he was not the first known non-white player.
It is interesting to note that in the early 1900s one ball was used for the entire game. Since each baseball cost $3 it was deemed the ball would only be replaced if it was ragged or if it was lost due to being hit into the spectator area. It is also interesting to note that during these games a ‘security’ force manned the stands whose main function was to retrieve the ball from the person who caught it.
The first professional African-American club was the Cuban Giants who began playing in 1885. The first Negro National League was formed in 1920. It was also in the year of 1920 that the death of a player occurred when Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a ball from pitcher, Carl Mays. According to historical accounts, Chapman died the next day.
The year 1919 saw Babe Ruth to be among the first group of baseball players sold from one club to another. This was also the year of the 1st baseball game being heard on radio with the teams being the Pitsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Philes.