The Origin of Baseball

The Origin of Baseball

There is often disagreement about the origin of baseball. For more than 90 years, people have believed in the myth that Abner Doubleday invented baseball. Baseball developed slowly, and changed with time, and that is why it is called America's national pastime. Some believe it was a popular game from England where milkmaids and farmer hands would toss a softball underhand and hit it with a closed fist. Others even say it was evolved from cricket. From 1905-07, a special investigation was done to find the beginning of baseball. An old man, claiming to be one of Abner Doubleday's childhood's friend, swore that he invented baseball in 1839, in Cooperstown, New York (Stewart 5). The fact of the matter is Doubleday was at the United States Military Academy at West Point when he supposedly invented this game. There was also a diary found of his, and there were no writings that mentioned baseball.

Baseball has been tracked as far back as the late 1700's, along with a few other children's games. These include bat and ball, stool ball, town ball, and one-old-cat. These games all had different rules, but they all had something in common; the ball is thrown to a person with a bat, that person hits the ball, and runs to the bases. ..0Sound familiar? This game was also known as rounders, which was mostly played by girls (Margolies, 11). This game came to the United States in the 18th century by the English immigrants. Rounders included the four bases, a feeder, and a striker (pitcher, and a batter). A player was called "out" when they swung and, missed the ball three times, being struck by the ball, or an outfielder caught a fly ball (Stewart 6).

Playing a sport in the 1700's was frowned upon. Working up a good sweat was considered harmful. Physical games and competitions were unheard of. Any kind of simple competitions were viewed as pastimes for children and low-class ruffians. Part of the problems was that the English had invented this game, and the Americans, at the time, did not like the English. If Englishmen liked to play games, Americans did not.

More people were moving to the cities, and found that their jobs did not require physical labor. The workers found themselves with more time and energy on their hands. There was an increasing demand for some kind of outlet. There was a need for some kind of organized s...

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...e girls trained in Havana, Cuba. The Cuban response to the women's game was incredible. The Cubans started their own league called the Latin American Feminine Baseball League. In 1948 the first group of Cuban players were recruited to attend spring training. Only four made the cut, and played throughout the regular season.

By 1950 the league was in financial trouble, and player recruitment was a problem. It was difficult to find recruits who played baseball. At this time, some of the teams considered hiring black players. There were two girls that were hired, but didn't seem to make the roster.

The AAGPBL operated from 1943 to 1954 and represents one of the most unique periods in baseball history.

As one can see, baseball has gone through many transformations over the past century. A game that started out as not attracting many viewers has adapted the title of "America's pastime". One can go to Yankee Stadium on any given game day and see close to 50,000 spectators. The sport has become a major part of many lives. There is so much hype associated with baseball today. From the pre-season to the World Series, fans from across the country fly to see their team play.