Baseball History
The game of baseball is now about 270 years old. In 1839, Abner Doubleday invented the game. The rules were established in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright. The game soon blossomed to become a professional sport in 1869 with the founding of the Cincinnati Red Stockings who first paid their players a salary. The first professional league was established in 1871 with the National Association of Professional Base Ballers. The still existing National League was formed 5 years later. The catcher’s mask, a much needed safety device from tipped fouls, was patented in 1878. The infamous Louisville slugger bat was first used in 1884. The American League is created 29 years after the founding of the National League. The first world series between the Boston Pilgrims and the Pittsburgh Pirates is held in 1903.
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In 1905, the Chicago Cubs were not yet cursed, and won 116 games out of 152 during their season. The game reaches new heights of popularity when President Taft attends opening day in 1910. The game’s oldest and most distinguished ballpark opens in Boston in 1912 and gets the name Fenway Park. The famous “Shoeless” Joe Jackson scandal where 8 White Sox players are accused of throwing the game against the Cincinnati Reds erupts during the 1919 World Series. The famous Curse of the Bambino results from the Yankees acquisition of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox. Yankee Stadium opens in 1923. The 1927 Yankees must be considered one of the best teams to ever play baseball considering the crop of talent that was available at the time. Babe Ruth signs an $80,000 a year contract after he managed to hit his 500th career homerun during the 1929 season. In 1935, the MLB hosts its first game “under the lights.” During World War II, 340 major league players were sent overseas to fight in the war. The World Series makes its television debut in 1947. The game shifts from an intensely eastern and Midwestern appeal to the west when the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers move to California in 1957. The infamous George Steinbrenner buys the Yankees in 1973. The game developed so fast from it infant beginnings and is now one of the major businesses in the United States attracting millions of fans to the ballparks each summer day and millions more from their home watching the games on television.
Longest Game In Baseball History
The game was played in 1984 and lasted over 8 hours and 25 innings before Chicago manages to beat Milwaukee 7 to 6.
