Baseball and Its History Essay

About three weeks ago, the Packer Varsity baseball team beat Berkeley Carroll school for the first time in twelve years and in glorious fashion. Tears streamed down my face as our winning run crossed the plate in extra innings, dust flying up as my teammates and I mobbed each other at the plate. Yet a few short days later, our team was blindsided by the news that St. Ann’s had pulled off back to back upsets to squeak their way into the playoffs ahead of us - just as our season seemed to be looking up, it was over.

The major league today consists of 30 teams. 29 spread across the U.S. and 1, the Toronto

Baseball is a game of skill that is played with a hard ball and a bat between two teams of nine players each at a time on the playing field at once. Although many different people play Baseball all over the world it is most popular in the United States. It is so popular in fact, it is referred to as the national pastime of the United States because of the tradition and popularity associated with the game. Baseball consists of many complicated rules. It also has a very elaborate history. One can not fully understand the game America has grown to love until learning about not only the rules but also the history.

The development of baseball solidified the significance of organized team sport in American culture beginning in 1845. While baseball was originally played solely by amateurs, on oddly shaped fields, and with not an incredible amount of action outside of the infield, baseball encompassed the reasons behind the importance of organized team sport. Not only do team sports encourage self-government, they also unite the community through

A pastime is a hobby that is performed in someone’s spare time. The term America’s pastime is something that the entire nation enjoys and participates in. Since its creation, baseball has taken the top spot as the nation’s favorite recreation. For generations it filled the homes of Americans whether it be via television, conversation, or participation. Families would travel together to their local baseball stadium and root for the home team. Kids would organize games at their local baseball field and play until dark. Stars like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio were idols to fans, both young and old. It was evident that baseball was in the peoples hearts and truly was America’s pastime. However, today there is a debate whether baseball is still The United States number one choice of hobby. It is unclear whether it actually is America’s pastime or if that term is just associated with the game. Although the game has deep roots, due to the rise in popularity of other professional sports, a drop in baseball game viewings and a decrease in the number of young fans, baseball should no longer be considered America’s pastime.

Baseball has for a long time been a staple in the American sporting culture as baseball and America have grown up together. Exploring the different ages and stages of American society, reveals how baseball has served as both a public reflection of, and vehicle for, the evolution of American culture and society. Many American ways including our landscapes, traditional songs, and pastimes all bear the mark of a game that continues to be identified with America's morals and aspirations. In this paper I will be addressing the long residuals of baseball as it specifically relates to the emergence of the

Baseball 101 (Introduction) Baseball is more than what people actually think it may be. Some think it’s just all about hitting and catching the ball. The types of data I want to gather is basically just wanting know what knowledge people know about baseball. You need to be able to be mentally focused in order to play the game of baseball.

The beginning of baseball has had it twist on who started the game and who made the rules to the game. The sport we know as baseball was original name stickball before it became an organized sport. Baseball was a game that many just played as part of their moderate exercise for recreational purpose or time and they used the game to stay in shape. It was usually a middle class white -collar worker who played the game.

There were two leagues,the National(NL) and American(AL); the difference between the two of them was the Designated Hitter rule. The American League had this rule so the pitchers wouldn’t hit for themselves and if the AL played a NL team, the rule would only apply to the games in the AL ballparks and not for games played in NL ballparks. Some teams from the AL are the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners, and the Baltimore Orioles just to name a few. The teams from the NL include the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers. In each league, the two most successful teams would win the pennant.

November 24TH, 1887, football fans used boxing gloves and broomsticks to play the very first, official, game of softball. Just a little over four decades earlier, Alexander Cartwright, the “father of baseball” formalized the rules, or codes, of “townball”. What is “townball”? Who exactly is Alexander Cartwright? Moreover, what on earth does this have to do with fast-pitch softball? These are all valid questions you may or, may not have right now.

My relationship with baseball is, at best, counterintuitive, at worst, downright delusional. I treat my home field like a wilderness preserve, painstakingly raking out lumps of dirt in the infield, cleansing the outfield of stray litter, and ardently seeking revenge on opponents sacrilegious enough to smudge our foul lines by firing fastballs up and in. Yet, this beloved field is undeniably a terrible place to play baseball. Even if you are willing to overlook the not-so-slight gradient of the outfield grass and the broken beer bottles that line the dugouts, it is impossible to ignore the sounds of the neighboring metal scrapping facility or the ever present stench of the not-too-far superfund site – the Gowanus Canal. To top it all off, the

The first professional baseball league was born in 1871. Mostly, by the beginning of the twentieth century many large east-coast cities had teams of their own. The league was split into two divisions, National and American. During the regular season a score was kept, and by the end of the season whichever team had the most victories was said to have won the pennant. Then the two teams that won the pennant went to face each other in the World Series. The World Series consisted of seven games, and whichever team had won four of of the seven games had won the World Series and became the champion for the year. Though today there are different divisions within the leagues, and these are the teams within these divisions play in the post-season to

North America is known around the world for its excellent professional sports. Athletes from around the world come to the North America with the dream of becoming a professional athlete in their respective sport. Organized professional baseball in North America was developed in 1876 with the creation of the American League (AL). In 1901 the National League (NL) was formed in order to compete with the AL hence Major League Baseball (MLB) was born. From 1901 till now Major League Baseball has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry consisting of 30 MLB teams residing primarily in the United States with one team in Canada. The AL consists of 15 teams split into three separate divisions. The NL also consists of 15 teams split into three separate divisions. MLB teams compete in a 162 game season in order to determine which 10 teams, five from each league, will compete in an end of the season tournament and have a chance to win a World Series which is the most prestigious award an MLB team can accomplish. With this goal in mind MLB teams attempt to hire world class athletes in order to produce a winning team which in turn generates revenue.

“Up, up, and up! It’s over the fence with the game winning grand slam!” coach Danny Earl yelled.

The clean clear glass table giving me the goosebumps, it’s not like I didn’t have them already. The soft cushions made me settle down and keep it real, but the void and serious eyes of my coach made me scared. We have been talking for about 30 long minutes now and the end was near. My heart is rising and it happens. I had finally decided to play competitive baseball and have decided that I am now on the Midwest Blacksox.