History of Baseball
One of the first teams to play baseball were the Knickerbockers from New
York City in 1845. The club was headed by Alexander Cartwright under whom
the early baseball rules were formed known as the Knickerbocker rules.
Some of the first rules developed during this time are still in use like
allowing the fielders to tag or force runners. The first contest played
by two teams was in 1846 between the Knickerbockers and the New York baseball
club.
The first baseball league called the National association of Professional
Baseball Players was formed in 1875 which emphasized more on the clubs
than on the players. The clubs could now enforce player contracts which
prevented players to move from one club to another. Many times the players
dissatisfied and angry with the terms and conditions of their contracts
formed their own leagues like the Union association and Players league
which did not last for long and disbanded quickly.
The 1900’s to 1919’s was known as the dead ball era because
the high price of baseballs forced clubs to use a single ball for the entire
length of the game unless the ball got lost in the stands. By the end of
the game the ball was often muddy, misshapen and lumpy. As a result of
this there were rarely any home runs in the games played during that time.
The 1920’s saw a lot of major changes in baseball due to gambling
scandals and also the introduction of a legend called George Herman Ruth
affectionately called as Babe Ruth. He was one of the most successful players
of major league baseball winning three World Series.
By the 1950’s baseball grew and spread to rest of the states in
America and in a couple of years the economic prosperity of baseball grew
with television and radio contracts. In the recent past the game has had
its own share of strife with concerns over players taking performance enhancing
drugs but it has been able to overcome the negatives and is still one of
the most loved and watched sports in the United States.
