baseball started in England
Well not exactly. No one really knows where baseball started, but settlers in America brought with them the English games of cricket,
Los Angeles Dodgers Jersey, rounders and the similar townball, which gradually evolved into the game we know today.
The first known reference to "baseball" as a game was in 1791 in Massachusetts where a town bye-law banned it from the proximity of the town meeting house. There is also a detailed account of a game of base ball in Ontario, Canada in June1838.
However, in 1845 the 'Knickerbocker Rules', named after the breeches worn at the time, were devised to regularise the playing of baseball. These differed substantially from the rules of both cricket and rounders (townball rules depended upon the town in which it was played), although some similarities remain to this day both in the terminology used and the rules themselves.
Twenty years later the sport had become so popular that professionals started to play for the better and richer teams and the game was transformed. The success of this formula and the popularity of the game itself led to the foundation of a National League which was the first true major league.
Various other leagues were unsuccessful until, in 1901 the American League was established as a major league. The rivalry between the two leagues became fierce, particularly as regards the professional's jobs and pay, and in 1903 the first World Series between the two leagues was played.
Games for the next twenty years tended to be low scoring due to the rules in force at the time, and the pitcher had the advantage. However various rule changes in the 1920's favouring the hitters changed the game, encouraging big-hitters such as Babe Ruth to reach the history books whilst drawing very large crowds.
Controversy has often dogged baseball, usually on matters involving the players. Black Americans were excluded from the game until the late 1940's and in practice well into the '50's. They had their own league though. Major problems culminated in the players' strikes in 1972, 1981 and the cancellation of the World Series in 1994, from which baseball took a long time to recover.
Meanwhile, other countries throughout the world liked the game too,
Los Anaheim Angels Jersey, and leagues started in the Netherlands (1922),
Philadelphia Phillies Jersey, Japan and Australia in the '30's,
Kansas City Royals Jersey, leading to Venezuela, Korea, Taiwan,
New York Yankees Jersey, mainland China,
Minnesota Twins Jersey, and other professional leagues emerging.
Linear Mode
