First Baseball Game

The first organized baseball game was played by the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Base all Club on the 19th of June 1846. Alexander Cartwright was present for the seemingly insignificant event that would prove to be the start of a revolution in American culture. The New York Base Ball Club defeated the Knickerbockers 23-1 while Cartwright served as an umpire. The game was played in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the city is now known as the birthplace of baseball.

First Professional Baseball Game Played

The first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings began play in 1869. They traveled the country that year, playing 60 professional games undefeated. The National League was formed in 1876 and consisted of eight professional teams. The American Association was formed in 1882 as a rival association. The seeds were sown for the first World Series, which was to come in 1903 and was characterized by a series played by the winner of the National League pitted against the winner of the American League. It was played by the Boston Americans, who defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in 7 games to become the first World Series Champions.

First Televised Baseball Game

The first televised game was played on August 26, 1939. It showed a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers and was broadcast by NBC to only about 500 homes. It was completely experimental but during the game just two cameras were used and the quality was so poor that it was near impossible to pick out the ball. But in postwar America, games started to become regularly televised, especially the World Series and the number of television sets expanded exponentially thus commercializing the game to outside viewers for the first time.