The history of baseball

Abner Doubleday

Origin and Early History. Legend holds that baseball was invented in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1839 by Abner Doubleday. On Dec. 30, 1907, a special committee, consisting of prominent baseball executives and including two United States senators, confirmed Cooperstown as the game's birthplace and Doubleday its originator.
But baseball historians today place little credence in the Cooperstown-Doubleday Story, and feel that the Special Baseball Commission of 1906-1907 did an incompetent job. Various investigators have shown that the term "baseball" was used approximately a century before 1839. For example, a description of a game called "base-ball" appeared in the Little Pretty Pocket Book, a popular children's book published in 1744. A game similar to the one supposedly invented by Doubleday was described in the Boy's Own Book by William Clarke, a volume published in London in 1829, and The Book of Sports, written by Robin Carver and published in Boston in 1834.

Henry Chadwick

During the contoversy over the origin of baseball in the early 1900's, Henry Chadwick maintained that American baseball was merely a glorified version of the British game of rounders, which was, in turn, an offshoot of cricket. Today Chadwick's thesis is generally accepted by students of baseball. Though baseball grew up in the United States and has many American embellishments, it unquestionably is an adaptation of a game that had been played for centuries, in Which a batsman hit a thrown ball and ran around one or more bases, which might be rocks, stakes, posts, inverted milking stools, or canvas bags. The game of rounders was brought to the United States from England in the 18th century. It was nit standardized, having many variations and names. It was called round ball, goal ball, post ball, town ball and baseball. Fields could be any size, and there was no set number of bases in addition to home base.

Alexander J. Cartwright

The American now given credit for playing the largest part in the evolution of modern baseball is Alexander J. Cartwright, who in 1845 drew up a set of rules having much in common with the present-day game. He drew a diagram of a ball field with 90-foot base lines and had the batter stand at home plate instead of in a separate batters box some distance from the plate. His rules prohibited the retirement of a runner by "plugging"-hitting him with a thrown ball when off base. The rules nevertheless differed in many  respects from those of modern baseball. For example, balls caught on a first bounce constituted an out ; pitchers were restricted to throwing the ball underhanded; run were called aces; and the first team to score 21 aces won.
Cartwright was a member of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club, and his rules were primarily for the use of this club. But other clubs in New York and elsewhere quickly adopted them. It is evident that other teams were playing a good brand of ball, for in the first baseball game in record, played in Elysian Fields, Hoboken, N.J., on June 19, 1846, a team called the New York's, playing under Cartwright's rules on a diamond of his specifications, defeated the Knickerbockers (23 to 1 in four innings).

Alfred J. Reach

Early baseball was played by young men of means and social position. (Much the same was true, at the time, of cricket in England). However, baseball had a general appeal and, in the 1850's, artisans and challenged the socialites. The first convention of baseball clubs was held in New York in May 1857, to straighten out differences between what had become known as the New York game and the Massachusetts game, and, on March 10, 1858, the National Association of Baseball Players was organized. These meetings changed the scoring unit from aces to runs, and gave victory to the team ahead after nine innings. The game was still basically amateur, although at times money sometimes was passed under the table to induce strong-playing "amateurs" to join certain clubs. In 1864, Alfred J. Reach became the first avowed professional.

Harry Wright

During the Civil War, baseball was played extensively behind the lines. Many boys from farms, factories, and
counting houses, who received their first introduction to the game, were later to carry it back to their communities. After the war the game spread like wildfire. In 1869 the Red Stockings of Cincinnati, Ohio became the first all-professional team. The club, organized by  Harry Wright, had an annual payroll of about $9,300. The team played the entire 1869 season without defeat (56 victories and 1 tie) and stretched its winning streak to 79 in 1870 before losing to the Brooklyn Atlantics.
The first professional baseball league, the National Association of Professional Base-Ball Players, was formed on March 4, 1871, and lasted five seasons, the Boston club winning the championship four times. It became a rowdy league. There was open gambling on games, liquor selling in parks, bribery, and other chicanery.