History of Baseball ==Early History === The story of the origin of baseball depends on who you ask. The simplicity of the game means that many variants grew from "stick ball", a child's game revolving around hitting a ball with stick which has been long known, through a number of other early stick-ball-and-bases games, such as [one old cat]?. In addition, many of the game's early players were familiar with cricket. According to a Special Commission appointed in 1907 at the behest of Albert Spalding, a former player, administrator and sporting-goods manufacturer, to decide the issue, the first codified rules of baseball were devised by Abner Doubleday, of Cooperstown?, New York, in 1839. Nevertheless, newer inquiries have cast serious doubt on the reliability of the commission's main witness and on Colonel Doubleday's presence in Cooperstown in 1839. What is undeniable, however, is that shortly after this date, the first organized baseball clubs began to be formed in the eastern United States. The first were probably the Knickerbockers of New York City. The club was formed perhaps as early 1842 as a social club for the upper middle classes, and was strictly amateur until its disbandment. In the first competitive game between two clubs, in 1846, the self-styled "New York Nine" humbled the Knickerbockers by a score of 23 to 1. Professionalism and the rise of the Major LeaguesThe popularity of the game spread across the northeast US in the following years. Furthermore, the American Civil War saw the game played in the camps of both armies, and helped the game's progress further afield. By 1865 91 clubs were represented in the National Association of Base Ball Players, from as far west as Kansas. At this time all the clubs were amateur, but in 1869 the Cincinnati Red Stockings declared that they would henceforth be a professional side, and within 10 years professionalism was thoroughly established. In 1870, a schism formed between professional and amateur ballplayers. The National Association split into two groups. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players operated from 1871 through 1875, and is considered by some to have been the first major league. (Other researchers dispute this.) Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years. The professional National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, which is still extant, was established in 1875 after the National Association proved ineffective. The emphasis was now on "clubs" rather than "players". Clubs now had the ability to enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs in turn were required to play their full schedule of games, rather than forfeiting games scheduled once out of the running for the league championship, as happened frequently under the National Association. A concerted effort was made to reduce the amount of gambling on games which was leaving the validity of results in doubt. At the same time, a "Gentleman's agreement" was struck between the clubs which had the effect as to bar non-white players from professional baseball, a bar which was still in existence until 1947. The early years of the National League were nonetheless tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and a rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Competitive leagues formed regularly, and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1881-1891), sometimes called the "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the National League and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series -- the first attempt at a /World Series. The Union Association survived for only one season (1884), as did the Players League (1890), a fascinating attempt to return to the National Association structure of a league controlled by the players themselves. Both leagues, however, are considered major leagues by baseball researchers due to the high caliber of play (for the time) and the number of star players featured. One competitive league, the American League, did survive and in 1901 an agreement was signed between the two leagues which led, in 1903, to the playing of a "/World Series" between these two major leagues' champions. The Dead Ball Era and the Black SoxThe first 20 years of the 20th century saw an unprecedented rise in the popularity of baseball. Large stadia dedicated to the game were built for many of the larger clubs or existing grounds enlarged, including Shibe Park, home of the [Philadelphia Athletics]?, [Ebbets Field]? and the [Polo Grounds]? in Brooklyn and New York, Boston's Fenway Park along with [Wrigley Field]? and [Comiskey Park]? in Chicago. At this time the games tended to be low scoring, dominated by such legendary pitchers as [Walter "The Big Train" Johnson]?, Cy Young and [Christy Mathewson]?, to the extent that the period 1900-1919 is commonly called the Dead Ball Era. Despite this, there were also several superstar hitters, the most famous being [Honus Wagner]?, still held to be the greatest shortstop to ever play the game and Detroit's [Ty Cobb]?, the Georgia Peach. Cobb was a mean spirited man, fiercely competitive and loathed by many of his fellow professionals but his career batting average of .366 is unlikely to ever be bettered. Contrary what many of baseball's administrators believed, however, gambling was still rife in the game and the leagues complacency during this Golden Age of baseball was shockingly exposed in 1919, in what rapidly became known as the Black Sox scandal. During the season the Chicago White Sox had shown themselves to be the best team in the leagues, and were the bookmaker's favourites to defeat the Cincinnati club in /World Series. The White Sox were defeated and throughout rumours were rife that the players, motivated by a mixture of greed and a dislike of club owner Charles Comiskey, had taken money to throw the games. During the following seasons the rumours intensified, and spread to other clubs, until a Grand Jury was convened to investigate. During the investigation two player, Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson confessed and eight players were tried, and acquitted, for their role in the fix. The Leagues were not so forgiving. Under the commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, all eight players were banned from organised baseball for life. The Negro LeaguesAlthough there had been Negro baseball teams since the it was not until 1920 that the bar on black players in the major leagues finally resulted in the formation of the [Negro Leagues]?. The Negro Leagues produced many player of high quality, notably the pitcher Satchel Paige, and demonstration games between all-stars of the Negro and Major leagues were a fairly common occurence. The Bambino and the End of the Dead Ball EraIt was not the Black Sox scandal which put an end to the dead ball era, but by a rule change and a player. Some of the increased offensive output can be explained by the outlawing of tampering with ball, which pitchers had often done to produce "spitballs", which had unnatural flight through the air. More importantly though, at the end of the 1919 season Harry Frazee, then owner of the Boston Red Sox, sold a group of his star players to the New York Yankees, in order to fund his theatrical shows on Broadway. Amongst them was George Herman Ruth, known affectionately as "Babe". Ruth had started his career as a pitcher in 1914, but was rapidly converted into a hitter, hitting an unprecedented 29 home runs in his last season in Boston. The next year, as a Yankee, he would hit 54 and in 1921 he hit 59. His 1927 mark of 60 home runs would last until 1961. Ruth's power hitting ability demonstrated a new way to play the game, and one that was extremely popular with the crowds. By the late 1920s and 1930s all the good teams had their home-run hitting "sluggers": the Yankees' Lou Gehrig, [Jimmie Foxx]? in Philadelphia, Hank Greenberg in Detroit and Chicago's [Hack Wilson]? were the most storied. Whilst the American League championship, and to a lesser extent the /World Series, would be dominated by the Yankees, there were many other excellent teams in the inter-war years. The legendary [Connie Mack]? assembled a [Philadelphia Athletics]? side that won the 1929 and 1930 championships, and the National League's Saint Louis Cardinals would win three titles themselves in nine years, the last with a group of players known as the "Gashouse Gang". 1933 also saw the introduction of the All-Star game, a mid-season break in which the greatest players in each league play against one another in a hard fought, but essentially meaningless demonstration game. In 1936 the Baseball Hall of Fame was instituted and 4 players elected: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson. The War YearsThe beginning of US involvement in World War II robbed the game of many players who joined the armed forces, the major leagues continued throughout. In 1941, a year which saw the premature death of Lou Gehrig, Boston's great left fielder, [Ted Williams]?, had a batting average over .400, the last time anyone has achieved that feat. During the same season [Joe DiMaggio]? hit successfully in an unparalleled 56 consecutive games. Both Williams and DiMaggio? would miss playing time in the services, Williams also flying in the Korean War. During this period [Stan Musial]? led the St Louis Cardinals to the 1942, 1944 and 1946 World Series titles. Blacks return to the Major LeaguesIn 1947 [Branch Rickey]?, general manager of the [Brooklyn Dodgers]?, signed Jackie Robinson and broke the colour bar that had been in place for 50 years. Robinson was an exceptional talent, although perhaps not the greatest in the Negro leagues at the time, and he also had the inner strength to withstand the racism and abuse, from both fans and players, that he had to undergo. He stood up to the pressure magnificently, and played well enough to win the inaugral "Rookie of the Year" award. Later that same year, four more black players made it to the majors. The following year, the 1948 major league champion Cleveland Indians featured Hall-of-Famers Larry Doby and Satchel Paige (who was still effective at 42, and still playing at 59). In 1997, Major League baseball retired Robinson's number, 42. In 1951 [Willie Mays]? joined the New York Giants. Mays, the "Say Hey Kid", was fantastically talented, an athletic centre-fielder with a splendid throwing arm who could hit home runs or singles and steal bases. 50 years after the start of his career, he is widely considered amongst the greatest to have ever played the game. In his rookie season he helped the Giants to win the pennant, a feat only accomplished by Bobby Thompson's homer against the Dodger on the last day of the season, whose fame as "The Shot Heard Round The World" is due in no small part to Russ Hodges' commentary: :"Brooklyn leads 4-2 ... Branca throws, theres a long fly, its gonna be, I believe ... THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hit that ball into the lower deck of the left field stands! The Giants win the pennant, and they're going crazy ... they're going crazy! I don't believe it! I will not believe it" Baseball Expands and Moves WestUp to this time, major league baseball franchises had been largely confined to the eastern United States. In 1958 two of the New York teams, the arch-rival Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants were relocated on the west coast, in Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively. They were joined in California by the California Angels in 1961 and the Athletics, who had moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 1955 before settling in Oakland in 1968. 1961, which also saw the arrival of the Washington Senators, is also noted as being the year in which [Roger Maris]? beat Babe Ruth's single season record home run record, hitting 61 for the New York Yankees, albeit in a slightly longer season than Ruth's. Expansion continued in 1962 with the addition of the Houston Astros and New York Mets to the National League. Players Assert Themselves(description of the following events here:) * Formation of the Major League Baseball Players Association, 1955 or so. * Joint holdout by Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, 1966 * Curt Flood lawsuit challenging the validity of the reserve clause, 1972 * Messersmith-McNally? arbitration decision, limiting the reserve clause to one year 1975 The result was the current free-agency and arbitration system. /Talk |
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