Baseball History Research Paper

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Lynn Curlee once stated, “Baseball is one of the great American traditions… since the Civil War era, baseball has been called our national pastime… the history of the sport reflects the story of our own country” (4). Although baseball’s origins could be traced back to as early as the 17th century, its main rise to fame came during the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Today, Baseball is one of the most popular sports in modern day America. Therefore, the first ever published rules of baseball were written by Alexander Cartwright in 1845, and he is now credited as the founder of baseball. Long before baseball became a popular sport in America, variations of baseball were being played all over the world. Games that included a stick and a ball…show more content…
“Although they had practiced in Manhattan at places like Madison Square Park, this first real game was held on a grassy lot poetically called Elysian Fields in a park overlooking the Hudson River in Hoboken, New jersey”(Lynn Curlee 4). The game was won by The New York Nine 23-1 in four innings. The game was umpired by Alexander Cartwright. This game is known to be the first officially recorded baseball game ever. Most of the original rules used in this game are still being used today. During the 1840s and 1850s, The Knickerbockers were one of many teams that started to form in the East Coast. The clubs mostly consisted of middle class workers. By 1855, there were a total of eleven baseball teams in New York. these teams played each other commonly throughout the early 1850s. It wasn’t until 1858 when the first organized league was formed. the league was called the National Association of Baseball Players (NABBP) and it was formed by the Knickerbockers. The league consisted of sixteen teams and used Alexander Cartwright’s original rules. The formation of the NABBP helped make baseball more popular around the

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