Baseball is a game of skill that is played with a hard ball and a bat between two teams of nine players each at a time on the playing field at once. Although many different people play Baseball all over the world it is most popular in the United States. It is so popular in fact, it is referred to as the national pastime of the United States because of the tradition and popularity associated with the game. Baseball consists of many complicated rules. It also has a very elaborate history. One can not fully understand the game America has grown to love until learning about not only the rules but also the history.
HISTORY
A popular legend of the history of baseball claims that Abner Doubleday, who was a Union officer during the American Civil War, invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. However, there is little support for this story.
A more accurate response to the question of how baseball originated would be that many scholars believe that baseball was invented long before one would think. For instance there is evidence of games played with a ball and a stick even in the earliest of civilizations such as the ancient cultures or the Persians and Egyptians. Such games continued to be played by civilizations throughout history but it was not until the early 1600s that Europeans first brought games involving a ball and a stick to the Americas. There were various games played with a ball and a stick but the one that most resembled baseball was an English game called Rounders. The rules of Rounders are more primitive than the ones of modern day baseball but it was from this game which baseball as we know it most directly originated from.
HOW BASEBALL IS PLAYED
The rules of baseball may seem very complicated but they are most easily understood by watching the game itself. First of all a baseball game is divided up into 9 different periods called innings. After nine innings are up the team that scored the most runs wins the game. Play begins when a pitcher throws the ball toward a player on the opposing team. The pitcher tries to throw the ball in the strike zone, which is an imaginary box. If the ball is in the strike zone, it is a strike if not it is a ball. The player whom the ball was thrown at tries to hit the ball onto the playing field. A run is scored when a player hits the ball and runs around a series of bases before a player on the other t...
... middle of paper ...
...rts of land so people could play. After that leagues were established and athletes started to be paid to play sports. This was a sad day for all the people who loved the game of baseball and all the tradition that surrounded it. Although players were getting salaries the tradition was still carried with the great sport of baseball.
Even though some of the tradition was lost when the game of baseball started to be played for money there were still those players who played the game with all their heart and soul because they had a passion for it. So the people who started the tradition of baseball and made America’s pastime great such as Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Joe DiMaggio will always be remembered by those who play with the passion that resembles that of the men that were mentioned such as Ken Griffey, Jr. and Derek Jeter. These players will forever recognize what a great game they are so privileged to be a part of by its history, rules, and the players that made it all happen. Even if one does not have as much passion for baseball as others one probably still agree with The Babe (Babe Ruth) when he said,” Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world.”
Rader states that baseball was founded by Abner Doubleday in 1839 at Cooperstown, New York. In the next couple decades, the game developed the simple concept of bases. After having bases introduced into the game, the kids in bigger cities started club based teams which played each other. These teams started to develop a personal passion and respect for baseball which led them to adopt written rules. He conveys the idea of fellowship within the team and how the players celebrated all aspects of the game. He gives an example of a club team called the New York Knickerbockers and how they celebrated with their opponents and teammates whether they won or l...
Thousands of people end up enrolling in college after they graduate from high school. Most of them want to further their education so they can make something out of themselves. It is a common idea among many, that college will end up increasing one’s average income. In the article, The College Payoff Illusion, by Edwin S. Rubenstein, he wrote that “In 1997, college graduates earned an average of $40,508 versus just $23,970 for non-college graduates”. The statistic shows that graduates are making more but does it have more to do with their college degree or their personality?
Historically the American dream has developed from people’s campaign to carry on through rough periods. The dream offers equal a opportunities for prosperity. The phrase, American dream, was first introduced by James Adams who wrote
1. Claim: (origin) the origin of baseball is shady at best, but one story stands out in American history is that Baseball originated from two British games, cricket, and rounders. The real inventor of the rules of the game was Alexander Cartwright, a bookseller.
The rules of baseball and softball are extremely complex, so only the basics are necessary to distinguish the sports. In both sports the primary rule is to advance the runner around the bases to home plate when the ball is hit. In baseball stealing the bases is another way to advance the runner, but this is not permitted in softball because the ball must be hit before a runner can leave the base. Baseball requires nine innings to complete a game, and softball only requires seven. The softball player is out if the last hit is a foul ball, while the baseball player stays at the plate until another strike is called or hits successfully. As one can see, a player that switches games must familiarize himself with the difference in the rules to succeed.
A team of players usually ranges from ten to forty players depending on how many people join the squad. The field consists of nine players on defense, as well as one batter at the plate playing offense. Of those nine players on the field, three play deep in the outfield (right, left, and center) who look to catch a ball hit in the air and get it back to the infield as quickly and efficiently as possible; if the ball drops then their goal is to hurry to the ball and get it back to the infield as quickly and efficiently as possible before the runner (after the ball is hit and the player gets on base because the ball wasn’t caught in the air, his title changes from a batter/hitter into a runner) advances to the next base.
Baseball is not a difficult game to comprehend, but it can a very long time to achieve a high level of performance. Usually one starts playing this game at a very young age and the first thing they start out with is throwing. Throwing a baseball involves exploiting all major muscle groups in the body to generate a large torque on the arm that will in turn create a high potential for speed when it is released.
Most people might just assume that baseball is a boring game played with two teams that have nine players on each side, who both take turns hitting and going on defense. People sometimes think that the game is only nine innings, and the team with the most amount of runs in the end wins. But there is so much more to it than that and it's all thanks to mathematics. I have especially noticed this due to my personal engagement with baseball, it is the main sport I play and I play almost everyday for about 2 hours a day. I play for Stratford high school and baseball has had a large impact on my life which is a big reason why I wanted to do this particular topic. I love baseball and have played it for
Support: In History website (Who invented Baseball),March 27, 2013. The closest ancestor to baseball would be two games from new england which were “rounders and cricket“. But later in september in 1845, a group was founded in new york city where men founded the New York Knickerbocker baseball Club. They were the ones that stated new set of rules stating for the diamond shape infeld, the three strike rule and then abolishment of the danger of tagging the runner by throwing the balls at them.
The team on offense tries to score runs, while the pitching and defense tries to prevent the offense from scoring runs. To score a run a player on the offense attempts to hit a small special white ball that the pitcher throws to him. If he hits the play in the filed of play he can attempt to run to a base. If the player reaches the base before the defense can get the ball there or tag him with the ball he will be safe. There are four square bases and are lined up in a diamond. The player starts from the home plate, he has to round the bases to score a run. From base to base is 90 feet, so from home plate to first base is 90 feet and from first base to second base is 90 feet, ect. When the player on offense hits the ball it must stay in the filed of play which is restriced from: the right side of third base to the left side of first base and up until the hom...
The following year marked the formation of the National League of Professional Baseball Players, which was soon shortened to the National League (Ibid). In 1884, the rival American League was founded and the era of modern professional baseball began.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime." Alexander Joy Cartwright of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised the first rules and regulations for the modern game of baseball.
In early May 2002, a ban that the management of Major League Baseballs’ Seattle Mariners imposed requiring non-admittance of any fan wearing a tee shirt saying, “Yankees Suck” was finally lifted. Telling the Seattle Mariner fans that the word “suck” was offensive and had no place in a family atmosphere, was out of line to many. The backlash from the fans was overwhelming to the point that Mariners management had no choice but to lift the ban. The ban caused three major backlashes: It angered season ticket holders, it told the fans that the first amendment could be twisted at the ballpark, and it tried to strip fans of team spirit and pride. Mariner management ignored the minor uprising as long as possible until the ban reached near boiling point levels. Things have since settled down in Seattle, but hopefully Mariner management will not try a stunt like the ban anytime soon.
Baseball was first introduced into the American culture, by English immigrants in the early 18th century, and its popularity slow grew. It wasn’t until the Civil War the popularity of the game spread, and both Union and Confederate soldiers played baseball during lulls in the fighting. After Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, soldiers from both the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate) and the Army of the Potomac (Union) played baseball. (Schackelford Jul 4, 2009) This was the beginning of the American people love of Baseball began. It was also the first mention of baseball being the national game. During the bloodiest war in our countries history Baseball was there to help the two sides heal. It was another fourteen years till 1879 when Football would be invented.
When the term ‘American Dream’ was first mentioned in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, he described it as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (Clark). When Adams mentioned the term, it had much more of an idealistic meaning, rather than the materialistic meaning it has in modern society. At the time of it’s mention, the dream meant that prosperity was available to everyone. In the beginning, the American Dream simply promised a country in which people had the chance to work their way up through their own labor and hard work (Kiger). Throughout history, the basis of the dream has always been the same for each individual person. It