In the 19th century, a beloved American pastime took the nation by storm, transforming from a simple children’s game into one of the most popular and profitable professional sports worldwide. Yet, the true origins of baseball have long been a subject of mystery, as legends and myths cloud its history. Today, we delve into the captivating story of how baseball truly came to be and evolved into the global sport we know today.

The Myth of Abner Doubleday

Many of us who grew up in the United States or Canada may be familiar with the legendary tale that baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday of Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. According to the myth, Doubleday adapted an 18th-century game called “town ball” to create the sport we now know as baseball. This story gained so much traction that the Baseball Hall of Fame was established in Cooperstown, honoring Doubleday as the game’s inventor. However, this narrative is nothing more than a myth.

The myth of Abner Doubleday’s invention of baseball originated in the early 20th century when the sport was becoming a lucrative business. To prove that baseball was a purely American activity, Albert Spalding, owner of the Chicago White Sox and founder of the Spalding sporting goods company, organized the Mills Commission in 1905. This commission, comprising individuals without historical expertise, aimed to determine baseball’s origins. The testimony of a single individual, a mining engineer named Abner Graves, formed the basis of the Abner Doubleday story. Yet, there was no corroborating evidence or historical record supporting this claim. Abner Doubleday, a Civil War general who passed away in 1893, never took credit for inventing baseball during his lifetime. The legend was simply constructed to link the sport to an American war hero.

Tracing Baseball’s Murky Origins

Unraveling the true origins of baseball proves to be a challenging task. Various bat and ball games were played in Europe for centuries, but beyond the names of these games, little documentation exists. Baseball’s immediate precursors can be traced to two English games: rounders and cricket. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a plethora of different games resembling baseball emerged in America. These games went by various names such as town ball, cat ball, base and ball, round ball, rounders, and base ball.

In 1833, the Olympic Ball Club of Philadelphia was established, followed by the Gotham Base Ball Club in New York in 1837. These early clubs played games that bore only a faint resemblance to modern baseball. It was not until 1845 that the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York, led by Alexander Joy Cartwright, codified a set of rules that more closely resembled the game we recognize today.

The Knickerbocker Rules, published in 1848, introduced concepts such as a diamond-shaped base layout, 42-paces-apart bases, and pitching the ball instead of throwing it. Furthermore, catching a ball and tagging runners with it were established as methods of getting players out. While the game continued to evolve, these rules laid the foundation for modern baseball.

Rise of Professional Baseball

As the popularity of baseball grew, the sport underwent significant transformations. In 1857, sixteen teams from the New York area introduced new rules, such as playing nine innings, establishing bases 90 feet apart, and allowing force-outs at any base. Baseball rapidly gained popularity, and in 1858, the first game where spectators paid for admission took place between an all-star team from Manhattan and New Jersey and an all-star team from Brooklyn.

The Civil War played a crucial role in spreading baseball across the country. Soldiers from various regions played the game together during their downtime, and prisoners of war introduced the sport to their comrades in the South. After the war, baseball’s popularity surged, and the National Association of Base Ball Players was established in 1869, becoming the first professional baseball league.

The National Association allowed openly professional teams, and the Cincinnati Red Stockings, a touring team, became the first professional team. Their success in the early years cemented baseball’s status as a professional sport. In 1876, the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the oldest professional sports league in the world, replaced the National Association.

Breaking Barriers and International Expansion

Baseball continued to evolve throughout the 20th century. The notorious 1919 World Series scandal tarnished the game’s reputation, prompting the leagues to hire federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis to oversee the rules and maintain integrity. Under Landis’ control, integration was prohibited, preventing black players from entering the major leagues. The establishment of the Negro Leagues in 1920 provided an outlet for black baseball players to showcase their talent, featuring legendary players like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.

It wasn’t until after Landis’ death in 1944 that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946. The subsequent creation of the Little League in 1939 and the first Little League World Series in 1947 solidified baseball’s status as a beloved children’s sport.

Baseball’s appeal transcended national boundaries, reaching countries such as Cuba, Canada, and other Latin American nations. Japan had its own baseball history, but it wasn’t until 1950 that the Nippon Professional Baseball league was formally established. In recent decades, players from diverse countries, including the Dominican Republic, Cuba, South Korea, and Australia, have made significant contributions to Major League Baseball.

Baseball has become a colossal industry, with Major League Baseball ranking as the second highest-earning professional sports league globally. From its humble beginnings, baseball has evolved into an international game, captivating fans worldwide.

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