Father Of Baseball

Alexander Cartwright’s establishment of the rules of baseball that have survived 160 years without too many drastic changes started baseball with organized teams of 9. The New York Knickerbockers were the first organized team, and Alexander Cartwright was their leader. They played in the first organized baseball game and dominated their opponent by scoring over twenty runs. By the turn of the century, the game had reached such heights of popularity that the first World Series was played in 1903, and President William Howard Taft came out for the first pitch of opening day for the 1910 season. But Alexander Cartwright did not live long enough to see baseball skyrocket in popularity because he passed away in 1892. But his simple changes to the rules of the preceding game of townball helped to catapult the game of baseball to the level of international adoration by millions and millions of fans and players. The work of Alexander Cartwright, unbeknownst to him at the time, has created opportunities for young urban children to avoid the temptation of criminal activity, to find a love for a game and allow themselves the opportunity to succeed in the outside world as baseball teaches players teamwork, leadership, and perseverance. All of these qualities are necessary for children to learn if they expect to be successful in society.

The problem with baseball during the first half of the twentieth century was that its significance stayed centralized with the white communities as the game maintained its segregation. The first black league was created in 1920 by Rube Foster in order to offer some level of opportunity for black players. The Negro Leagues featured some of the greatest baseball players that would never gain the same notoriety as Babe Ruth or any of the white Major League Baseball players of the times. There are no legendary stories for these players. But their love for the game helped to create a situation which would allow for the eventual integration of black players into Major League Baseball. When Jackie Robinson comes on the scene to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, the game of baseball was at a point where it was nearly ready for the integration that would drastically improve the quality of play and introduce new and exciting ideas for the game from players with a somewhat different cultural background. It allowed the game’s popularity to be spread to people from all backgrounds, including other minority groups who quickly became integrated into the game as well. The hardships that were faced by the black players of the 1920s, 30s, and early 40s set the stage for the argument that people of any background can play the game with the same skill as Major Leagues.