What Was Baseball?

Baseball has been around for centuries, and it’s origins are still a mystery. While we may not know exactly where baseball came from, we do know that it’s a great game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the history of baseball and some of the interesting facts about this popular sport.

The Early Days

The Origins of Baseball

The origins of baseball are shrouded in mystery and debate. There are many theories about how the game came to be, but the most popular story is that it was invented by a man named Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York in 1839. This story has been widely accepted for many years, but recent research has called it into question.

Other theories about the game’s origins include that it was based on the English game of rounders, or that it was a spontaneous invention by American kids who were looking for something to do. Whatever its true origin, baseball is now one of America’s most beloved pastimes.

The First Professional Teams

Several professional baseball clubs sprang up in the North and the Midwest during the 1850s. The first professional team, which was organized in 1869, was the Cincinnati Red Stockings. This team, which featured all professional players, compiled a 57-0 record in 1869, against amateur and semiprofessional clubs. The Chicago White Sox were an offshoot of the 1950s Red Stockings team.

The Golden Age

Before the turn of the 20th century, baseball was considered a gentleman’s game. It was a game for the rich and elite. The players were amateurs and the fans were considered spectators. But all of that changed when baseball became a professional sport.

The Rise of the New York Yankees

For a time, it looked as if the New York Yankees would never be stopped. From 1926-1933, they won seven American League pennants in a row and went to the World Series nine times in 10 years, winning it all six times. The side was packed with talent: In 1927 alone, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Ruth and Meusel all knocked more than 40 home runs each, a record that still stands today. The team was so good that even when Babe Ruth was sold to the Boston Braves in 1935 – by now he was well past his best and earning $80,000 a year, making him baseball’s first ever $100,000 man – they still managed to win another pennant.

The Birth of the Modern World Series

In 1903, the Boston Americans (later the Red Sox) faced the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modern World Series. The Series was scheduled for a best-of-nine format, meaning the first team to win five games would be crowned champion.

Boston dominated Pittsburgh, winning the series five games to three. One of the most interesting facts about this series is that Boston’s star pitcher, Cy Young, didn’t give up a single run in 27 innings pitched.

The success of this first modern World Series led to its prompt adoption by other professional baseball leagues. The World Series has been held every year since 1903, with the exception of 1904 and 1994 when no champion was crowned due to labor unrest.

The Modern Game

Baseball has been around for over a century, and it has undergone many changes since its inception. The modern game of baseball is a far cry from the game that was first played in the 1800s. Let’s take a look at how the game has changed over the years.

The Expansion Era

The Expansion Era is the period in baseball history from 1961 to the present day, characterized by the expansion of the Major Leagues to include new teams and by the increase in player salaries brought about by free agency. The era began with the addition of two new franchises, the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins), and ended with the addition of four more teams in 1998: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now the Tampa Bay Rays), Colorado Rockies, and Miami Marlins.

During this time, Major League Baseball also saw an increase in African-American and Latino players, as well as players from other countries such as Japan and South Korea. The designated hitter rule was introduced in 1973, and artificial turf became increasingly common in ballparks around the league. Home runs were hit at a record pace during this time, thanks in part to favorable conditions at newly-built ” cookie cutter ” stadiums such as Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and Riverfront Stadium .

The era came to an end in 1994, when a players’ strike led to the cancellation of that year’s World Series . The following year, baseball expanded again with the addition of two more teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies .

The Steroid Era

The 1990s and early 2000s were an exciting time for baseball. Home run records were being broken left and right, and the game’s popularity was at an all-time high. But there was a dark side to this Golden Age of Baseball: Performance-enhancing drugs were rampant, and many of the game’s biggest stars were juicing.

The so-called Steroid Era came to a head in 2007, when a congressional investigation revealed that some of the game’s biggest stars, including Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens, had used steroids. In the aftermath, baseball instituted stricter drug testing policies, but the damage had been done. The Steroid Era tainted many of baseball’s greatest achievements, and the game has never quite recovered.