BASEBALL

• A young man named Abner Doubleday is often credited with developing the game, but the real
history is older—and more complicated.

• As it turns out, the real history of baseball is a little more complicated than the Doubleday
legend. References to games resembling baseball in the United States date back to the 18th
century. Its most direct ancestors appear to be two English games: rounders (a children’s game
brought to New England by the earliest colonists) and cricket.

• In September 1845, a group of New York City men founded the New York Knickerbocker Baseball
Club. One of them—volunteer firefighter and bank clerk Alexander Joy Cartwright—would codify
a new set of rules that would form the basis for modern baseball, calling for a diamond-shaped
infield, foul lines and the three-strike rule. He also abolished the dangerous practice of tagging
runners by throwing balls at them.

• He is also referred as the father of baseball.

• In 1846, the Knickerbockers played the first official game of baseball against a team of cricket
players, beginning a new, uniquely American tradition.

• May 4, 1869: The Cincinnati Red Stockings play the first professional baseball game.

• Between 1845 – 1869, players were mainly amateurs who only played in their own city.

• The Red Stockings played nationally and posted a 65-0 record in 1869, the only perfect record in
baseball history.

• In 1876, the National League was formed. The National League is the oldest surviving major
league, and its counterpart is the American League which was founded in 1901.

• The National League had eight original members: the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta
Braves), Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartford
Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Brown
Stockings.

• The National Agreement of 1903 formalized relations between the two leagues and signaled the
advent of the World Series, which pits the two league champions into each other.

• In 1919, members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. This is
known as the Black Sox Scandal.

• On April 15, 1947, the most historic event in baseball occurred when Jackie Robinson debuted
for the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the league’s color barrier.
Basics of Baseball
• Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each.

• Run or Score is the score made by an offensive player who advances from batter to runner and
touches first, second, third and home bases in that order. The order of the bases is in a counter-
clockwise direction.

• Pitching - the act of throwing a baseball toward home plate to start a play.

• Fielding is an important part of baseball and playing defense, because fielders must prevent runs
and make outs to end each half-inning, so their team can get to bat.

• Strike zone is the volume of space through which a pitch must pass in order to be called a strike
even if the batter does not swing.

• Catch - occurs when a fielder gains secure possession of a batted ball in flight, and maintains
possession until he voluntarily or intentionally releases the ball

• Batting - the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team.

• Regulation game consists of 9 innings, unless extended because of a tie score, or shortened (1)
because the home team needs none of its half of the ninth inning or only a fraction of it.

The Players
• Batter is an offensive player who takes his position in the batter’s box and attempts to hit a ball
thrown to him by the pitcher.

• Pitcher is the fielder designated to deliver the pitch to the batter.

• Catcher - When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front
of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher.

• Baseman - is the player who fields the area nearest their respective base.