Module 2: "The Rise of American Baseball"

The british publication A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, written by John Newbery in 1744, described a bat and ball sport played with two opposing teams consisted of nine players each. The object of the game was to hit a thrown ball with a bat and run around a series of four bases. Once all four bases were touched consecutively, a run would be rewarded to the team which has done so. The team with the most runs accumulated by the end of a nine inning game would be dubbed the winner. The game described above, is what Americans have known as the game of baseball for the last two-hundred and twenty years.

By 1791, the game of baseball touched foot in the city of Pittsfield, Massachusetts in the town bylaw which prohibited the playing of the game near the newly refurbished town hall.  By the 1830's a number of ball and bat games had taken over the northern hemisphere, however, the the game of baseball attracted a single country the most. The United States soon took off with the game and in 1845 named its first semi professional baseball team out of New York City. The Knickerbockers Club team soon began to form the guidelines of rules that is seen in todays baseball nation wide. They discredited the rule that if a runner was hit with a throw ball a putout or "out" would be called. This change of rules led to the smaller and harder ball that is similar to the one seen today. Although there have been many rules changes throughout the history of baseball, the Knickerbocker Club in 1845 began to pave the games way to stardom. On June 19th, 1846 the first professional baseball game between the New York Nine and the Knickerbocker Club was recorded. Regrettably the Knickerbockers lost 23-1 in four innings. 

 Once the mid-1850's hit baseball was beginning to take over the nation. Spread by local and state wide journalist the sport began to be known as the "national game" or as we know it today "national pastime". Specifically in the New York Metropolitan area, sixteen local area teams formed the first known governing body of the sport naming the group The National Association of Base Ball Players. By 1863 the Association of Ball Players had changed another rule regarding to the sport. Now implemented, a catcher was not allowed the opportunity to pursue a put-out when catching a foul ball on the first bounce. Four years later in 1867 all negros living within the perimeters of the United States was barred from participating in the game of baseball. By 1869 the game was developing a commercial scheme and developed its first fully professional baseball team. The Cincinnati Red Stockings was formed and continued to go undefeated against a schedule of amateur and semi pro teams their first year. The National Association of Base Ball Players went on to create the first professional league that lasted from 1871 to 1875. Although negros were banned from American Baseball up until the 1940's, they created their own separate negro league beginning in 1877 that lasted up until the color barrier was broken in 1947. 

From 1845 to 1875 the game of baseball was one of, if not the most influential movements in the history of our nations sports. The country was given a seed and promptly planted it in the soil of our land to watch it flourish, as its own citizens molded and critiqued the sport. Baseball had an amazing start in the United States and continues to have an impact on the nations history to this day. After all, baseball was not dubbed the "nations pastime" for just any reason.

Works Cited

"Image: The Knickerbockers and the Excelsiors." Baseball History: 19th Century Baseball. Ed. E. Miklich. A D'Elia, 2007. Web. 29 Aug. 2011. <http://www.19cbaseball.com/image-knickerbocker-and-excelsior-baseball-teams.html>.

"List of Organized Baseball Leagues." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 28 Aug. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_the_United_States>.

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