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Brief History of Baseball
by Regan Shaors
http://www.fleerbaseball.com
The game of baseball is said to have begun in the early 19th
century, but that's just half the truth. The game was played
much before but the first baseball clubs were formed around
that time. An Englishman named Alexander Cartwright in the
year 1845 devised the first set of rules baseball. In fact,
many of the rules listed out then are still used in the
game.
In the year 1858, a group of amateur players came together
to form the first baseball league - known as the National
Association of Baseball Players. Right from the first year,
the National Association of Baseball Players began charging
for admission to baseball games.
At the turn of the century, the American League of baseball
came into being and began playing in 1901. The game of
baseball was still very much a game of strategy. The game
depended on bunting, base stealing and contact hitters. With
the invention of the cork centered baseball, all that
changed. Because the new baseball allowed for more home runs
baseball's popularity took off--and so did the cost of
admissions.Throughout the early 20th century, the game of
baseballrelied more and more on the hitting of home runs,
and lesson strategy. This was thanks to great baseball
players like Babe Ruth, who completely revolutionized the
game with hisprowess at hitting home runs. It is largely
due to the "Babe" that baseball became one of the most
popular sports in America. And it didn't hurt future
baseball players that people were willing to pay to see
Babe Ruth play.
The American League of Baseball came into being at the
beginning of the 20th century. The league began playing in
the year 1901. The game of baseball used a lot of
application of the strategy. This period also saw the
invention of the cork-centered baseball that went on to
change a lot of things. This baseball allowed for more home
runs resulting in the surging popularity of the baseball.
Throughout the early 20th century, the game of baseball
depended more and more on the hitting of home runs, and less
on strategy. Great baseball players like Babe Ruth
completely revolutionized the game with his prowess at
hitting home runs. Indeed, it is largely due to the 'Babe'
that baseball became one of the most popular sports in
America. And it was thanks to Babe Ruth that the tradition
to pay to see Babe Ruth play started.
Rival leagues kept trying to break into American baseball
even as late as 1960. Of course, they all failed to leave
any significant mark, and could not challenge the supremacy
of the National and American leagues that rule the game till
date. Baseball became a game of strategy and hitting
throughout the last part of the 20th century. However,
pitching and home run hitting are the baseball benchmarks of
today. Depending on the strength of their bullpens and their
home run hitters, baseball teams are either big winners or
big losers. The one thing that is consistent is that the
cost of admission still continues to rise.
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