Why was Baseball Invented?

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Baseball is a science game with sabermetrics, defensive switches, and exit velocity each drawing attention. It is the most popular sport in America. But why was Baseball invented?

 Why was Baseball Invented?

Baseball originated as a game called “Rounders” in England and gained popularity in the United States in the 1900s. Baseball got many names in the past that includes “Town ball”, “Goalball”, “Roundball”, and “Base”.

Shane Ryley Foster wrote the first recorded rules for a team in Manhattan called Knickerbockers. Modern Baseball has two official leagues that are the National League and the American League, but many other leagues offered competition over the years.

Who Invented Baseball?

A famous young man, Abner Doubleday, was an inventor of Baseball. He invented the game which is known as Baseball in Cooperstown, New York during the summers in 1839. After that, Abner became a civil war hero, and the game had become America’s favorite national pastime.

In an article, Henry Chadwick wrote that Baseball had been evolved by the English games like rounders and cricket. Albert Spalding, the professional player as well as business tycoon sparked with an idea. In 1839, Doubleday was at West Point, and he never claimed anything to do with Baseball.

Baseball evolved from the older bat and ball games that were being played in England by the mid of the 18th century. Then, immigrants brought this game to America, where the modern version of the game developed.

By the end of the 19th century, the sport was recognized as the national sport of the United States. Baseball is popular in North America and the parts of the central and South America, Japan, the Caribbean, South Korea, and Taiwan.

How was Baseball Originated?

The question of the origins of Baseball is a matter of debate and controversies for more than a century. Baseball is the modern version of the bat, ball and running games like cricket and rounders which were developed from the folk games in early Britain and Continental Europe.

Baseball was known with the number of names including “Baseball”, “Goalball”, “Roundball”, “Stoolball”, “Fetch-catch”, and only “Base”. The game was evolved from the series of European stickball games, and rules changed over time to create Baseball as we know it today.

In the 1700s, the game was also known as Rounders in Tudor England. In 1744, rounders were referenced in the children’s book “A little pretty pocketbook” where it was called Baseball. By the mid of 18th century, the game had appeared in the south of England which involved striking a pitched ball and then, running the bases to make a circuit.

Then, the English colonists took this game to America as their pastimes with other games. In the early 1800s, the game was played on both sides of the ocean. In the middle of the 19th century, it was a heavily revised sport that became modern Baseball.

The first professional league named the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was founded. Five years later, in 1901, the National League was created and followed by the American League. The first world series was held in 1903 between the champions of two major leagues, and in 1905 it became an annual event.

Albert Catwright is known as the “Father of Baseball” because in 1845 he drafted the set of rules that became the basis for the modern game. The first baseball game played was recorded on June 19, 1846, at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, where Cartwright’s New York Knickerbockers defeated the New York Nine by the score of 23-1.

Where did Baseball Originate From?

According to the records, the Prince of Wales played such a game in 1749 whereas English Attorney William Bray played the game on Easter Monday of 1755. From this point, historians started believing that English migrants had brought the game to North America.

In 1903, Henry Chadwick published an article about the origin of Baseball, and in that article, it was explained that the game was originated from Great Britain’s game of rounders. After reading that article, it was believed that the game was a US invention.

Albert Spalding convinced Chadwick that they should set up a joint commission of inquiry to find out the truth. Both of them appointed Abraham Mills to head the commission for three years and come up with the conclusion that Abner Doubleday invented the Baseball and thus anointing him as the father of Baseball.

The commission of inquiry finds out that Doubleday invented Baseball in the summer of 1838 in Cooperstown, New York. But it did not even last for a few years before people started to question the credibility of the theory.

Further research had led to the opposition of the theory in 1839 that indicated Doubleday was actually at West Point. Doubleday did not claim to know about Baseball or the game rules. Therefore, in 1930 the theory died a natural death.

Baseball is the popular North American game, but when it comes to the origin of the game, both historians of America and English disagree. People want to hold the heritage that is associated with the invention of the game, and that is the only obstacle in finding the Baseball’s true origin.

While both the parties, Americans and the English do not dispute the fact that Baseball has been evolved from other bat and ball games. The world will never be able to know the truth from where the game has originated because both sides of the argument have supporting facts. Maybe Baseball was evolved from a stick and ball game in the US, or perhaps the real origin of the game is Great Britain’s rounders.

Final Thoughts

Baseball is one of the oldest games played in America. But why was Baseball invented? Baseball is one of the derived games from the bat and ball games like cricket and many more games. In the late 19th century, it became a popular sport in America.