The History of Baseball
While the exact origins of baseball are unknown, most historians agree that it is
based on the English game of rounders. A game which began to become quite popular
in this country in the early 19th century, and many sources report the growing
popularity of a game called "townball", "base", or "baseball".
Abner Doubleday Alexander Cartwright D.L. Adams
Throughout the early part of the 19th century, small towns
formed teams, and baseball clubs were formed in larger cities. In
1845, Alexander Cartwright wanted to formalize a list of rules by
which all teams could play. Much of that original code is still in
place today. Although popular legend says that the game was
invented by Abner Doubleday, baseball's true father was
Cartwright. Rules of the Game
The first recorded baseball contest took place a year later, in 1846. Cartwright and
his Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York City lost to the New York Baseball
Club in a game at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey. These amateur games
became more frequent and more popular. In 1857, a convention of amateur teams was
called to discuss rules and other issues. Twenty five teams from the northeast sent
delegates. The following year, they formed the National Association of Base Ball
Players, the first organized baseball league. In its first year of operation, the league
supported itself by occasionally charging fans for admission. The future looked very
bright.
Equipment
To play baseball a lot of special equipment is needed. Everyone knows that bats, balls, and
gloves are needed to play the game, but most people don't know how much this equipment has
changed through the years.
Gloves
In the beginning baseball players did not wear gloves, they played bare-handed. The first gloves
were very thin and only covered the palm of the hand. Today there are several different kinds of
gloves. The catcher's mitt is big, round, and padded. The first baseman's mitt is longer than the
other fielders' gloves, and an outfielders' glove is larger than an infielders' glove.
Bases
The first bases used in baseball were four-foot high stakes. Too many players ran into them and
were hurt, so they tried big flat rocks. Players were still being injured, so they finally filled soft
sacks with sand. The modern day bases are made similar to the sand filled bags.
Safety Gear
The first catchers in baseball did not wear any gear for protection. Today's players wear a face-
mask, helmet, chest protector, shin guards and a cup. In the past, batters never wore a helmet. In
1952, the Pittsburgh Pirates were the first team to wear helmets. They wore them when they
were batting and when they were playing in the field. A few years later, they started to wear
them only when batting. The first helmet did not have an ear flap. The ear flap was designed for
Little League, and the major leagues copied this feature.
Bats
In the major leagues, only wooden bats are used. The rules say that the bat can only be 42 inches
long, and can only be 2 3/4 inches in diameter at the thickest point. White ash is the best wood
to use to make a bat. A bat made out of white ash helps absorb some of the shock when hitting a
90 mile-per-hour pitch. Bats are cut and shaped to a hitter's specifications. As many as sixty to
seventy bats might be used by one major league player in one season!
Baseballs
All baseballs are made the same size and weight. They are 9 to 9 1/4 inches in circumference
and weigh 5 to 5 1/4 ounces. The center of the baseball is cork. The cork ball is covered with
rubber. Cotton and wool yarn are tightly wound around the cork and rubber center. 150 yards of
cotton yarn (450 feet) and 219 yards of wool yarn (625 feet) are used to make a baseball. If you
stretched out the yarn from inside a baseball it would be longer than three football fields! The
cover a baseball is made out of cowhide. Two pieces shaped like a peanut are sewn together by
hand with exactly 108 stitches. The Rawlings Company makes all the baseballs for the major
leagues.
