The history of baseball given below, takes into account the origin of this game and how it flourished in the US. A short paragraph on history of baseball uniforms too, is presented in the article.
The English game of rounders is said to be the original form of baseball. Americans however, don’t accept rounders to be the predecessor of baseball. There are conflicting views on who invented the game of baseball. Similar ‘bat & ball’ games were played in other European countries Russia (Lapta), Germany (Schlagball) and Romania (Oina). The American version of ’rounders’ played in early 1800s was known as ‘Town Ball’. The ‘Town Ball’ was however, only one of the several names used to refer to this game; ‘Round Ball’, ‘Stool Ball’, ‘Goal Ball’ and ‘Base’ were the other names. Let us get into the details of the history of baseball through information presented below.
Baseball History
The history of baseball is shrouded by a mystery about who invented baseball. For a long time, it was believed that Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball. Interestingly, he himself never made any such claims about inventing this game. The word baseball was first mentioned in USA in the year, 1791. It was first used in the ordinance passed by Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which banned the game from being played within 73 m distance of the town meeting house. The outskirts of today’s Greenwich village (1823’s New York City) was the place where baseball used to be played regularly on Saturdays. Some additional information on origin and history of baseball should be useful.
History of Baseball in America
The history of this game presented in the following paragraph reveals some of the interesting baseball facts. The game of baseball was introduced to Americans in early 1800s and flourished, until the 1860s when its popularity reduced for a short period of time. Alexander Joy Cartwright is credited with inventing the modern game of baseball. Cartwright who belonged to New York, along with his team-mates from the ‘New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club’, formulated the modern baseball rules that we are aware of. The first game (recorded) of baseball took place in the year 1846. It was played between the ‘New York Baseball Club’ and Alexander Cartwright‘s ‘New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club’. The game was played in New Jersey at the Elysian Fields, Hoboken. As the popularity of baseball began to grow, a convention of amateur teams was called in 1857. This convention was called for discussing rules and issues related to this sport. The ‘National Association of Base Ball Players’ was formed in the year following the convention; it was the first organized baseball league of its kind. The delegates sent by 25 teams from the northeast formulated this league.
Influences of Civil War:
Unfavorable conditions in the 1860s in the USA, resulting from Civil War, put breaks on the organization of baseball tournaments. The Union soldiers however, used baseball as a pastime activity and disseminated it to other parts of the country. As soon as the war ended, people continued with this sport and more number of leagues, than earlier, came into action. In the year 1868, the annual convention of the baseball league was attended by delegates from 100 clubs. In terms of baseball history, the American Civil War thus, proved to be of great significance.
History of Baseball Uniforms
In the year 1849, team members of the New York Knickerbockers first used a matching outfit. Blue pantaloons and white flannel shirts were some of the initial clothing and baseball equipment used by this team. Along with this dress, straw hats too were used. Cincinnati Red Stockings was the team to first replace pants by ‘knickers’. In the year 1882, a rule was brought in, according to which the players, depending on their position had to wear uniforms with specific colors. The tradition of displaying patriotic symbols on the uniform started in 1917. It was during this period that America and Germany were in a state of war. The five major teams like, White Sox, The Chicago Cubs, Dodgers, Tigers and Senators resorted to wearing US flags on the uniform. Apart from the information about uniforms, some info about baseball bats history, might interest the reader.
The article presents before us, the history of baseball in short. Origin of this game and other details about clubs and the first league are presented in the paragraphs above.
