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{{Mediawiki:kindleoasis}}__NOTOC__[[File:Baseball is game between Union prisoners at Salisbury, North Carolina, 1863 - NARA - 530502.jpg|thumbnail|left|400px|Figure 1. Baseball being played in a prisoner of war camp in the American Civil War.]]Baseball has been called America's pastime and looking at for most of the 20th Century it one can see that was the modern most popular sport of baseball not only developed in the United States but it continues to be associated with the United States, similar to iconic places such as the Statue of Liberty or the Grand Canyoncountry. The path Even though baseball took to becoming the is an iconic American sport , it developed over an extraordinarily long period of time. It is today started a descendant of ball games that were played in the early Medieval period, where it was and overtime adapted into a very different game. As with other major American sports, key developments occurred in Great Britain before then developing differently played a key role in the United Statesbaseball's development.

In Medieval England, during the Anglo and Norman periods, there appears to have been a game played in a type of field or clearing in the woods. This may have involved some type of ball game and some have suggested the word for this game, craic, which may have developed into the term cricket. The game may have been played by children but almost no records exist of how this game was played. Another game developed in France in the Medieval period, which may have had similarities to craic, was La soule. This was a type of ball game using a leather or wooden ball that would involve people forming teams in a field and the ball would be hit or kicked around. Scoring a goal was likely the objective and, similar to many other games of the day, the game seemed violent and injury was common. Recently it has emerged that the closest and oldest ancestor to baseball is a game called rounders. <ref>For more on rounders, see: Block, D. (2006) <i>Baseball Before we knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game</i>. Lincoln, NE, Bison Books.</ref> This is a game that involves using a round bat that would hit a leather ball. The game also has four bases that a runner would go around. The field was square rather than diamond shaped and the ball smaller than a baseball today. Bats were also flat although the ends were round. Very likely in the 18th century immigrants from England or Ireland, where the game was also played, brought this game to the United States. By 1791 in the United States, the term baseball had been used to describe the game in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. <ref>For more on the emerging game of baseball in the 18th century, see: Light, J.F. (2005) <i>The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball.</i> 2nd ed. Jefferson, N.C, McFarland & Co.</ref> Earlier references to the term baseball exist in Great Britain in the 1740s, but the game seemed different, as it involved triangle-shaped configuration for bases and the bases were posts rather than then relatively low or flat objects.

A key development was the Knickerbocker Rules, developed in 1845 in New York. Some of the rules are still utilized from these rules today, such as the rule that the baseball must be pitched and not thrown. However, many rules, such as the number of outs (21) and hitting the ball out of the filed is a foul are not. <ref>For more on the Knickerbocker Rules, see: Melville, T. (2001) <i>Early Baseball and the Rise of the National League</i>. Jefferson, N.C, McFarland, pg. 12</ref> Nevertheless, the standardization attempt now began to harmonize baseball rules across different areas, leading to the eventual merger of the game.

By Rules such as bats had to be round, home base was where the 1850sball was hit, baseball had now become popularpitching came from a fixed distance, particularly in a foul ball caught means the east coastbatter is out, and players had to run relatively straight between bases and outside given parameters would mean they are out. However, the Knickerbocker These and other rules were not deemed adequate advanced in this convention are still with us today and new many recognize these rules were neededas the true origin of modern baseball. Other minor rule changes followed in the 1860s. In 1857It was also in the 1860s that baseball was become commercialized, at a convention with tickets being now sold and advertisers taking advantage of the gatherings watching the game. <ref>For more on the mid-late 19th century development of clubs around New York Citybaseball, see: Peter Morris (ed. ) (2012) <i>Base ball pioneers, 1850-1870: The Knickerbocker rules Clubs and Players who spread the Sport Nationwide</i>. Jefferson, N.C, McFarland & Co.</ref> ==America's Pastime Develops==Even during the Civil War, both sides were seen as vague and actively playing the increasingly popular game and competitive nature some of the prisoner camps had developed baseball meant that diamonds, with the diamond now standardized by the 1857 rules began to be exploited. In particularfact, new clubs were emerging outside it was Union prisoners of war that are credited with spreading the small click popularity of clubs baseball in the South (Figure 1). The New York that had adopted rules developed in 1857 were now becoming widespread as men were stationed in different parts of the country or were even prisoners in the South, where they taught this game to fellow prisoners and their guards.<ref>For more on the spread of baseball during the Civil War, see: Kirsch, G.B. (2003) <i>Baseball in Blue and Gray: the National Pastime During the Knickerbocker rulesCivil War</i>. [Online]. Available from: http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord. aspx?p=1422511</ref>

Rules such as bats had to be roundIn the 1860s, the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) developed, home base which was where an amateur association for players and clubs. By the ball was hitlate 1860s, pitching came from a fixed distancethe popularity of baseball led to the development of the first professional team, a foul ball caught means the batter is outCincinnati Red Stockings. Even before the development of the Red Stockings, and some of the best amateur players had were now getting paid to run relatively straight between bases and outside given parameters would mean they are out. These and other rules advanced in this convention are still with us today and many recognize these rules as play for specific clubs, indicating the true origin increasingly competitive nature of modern baseball. Other minor rule changes Soon in the 1870s other teams followed in , including the 1860sChicago White Stockings and Boston Red Stockings and a league of professional teams playing each other was formed. It The first professional association was also in called the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, although it only lasted from 1871-1875. With the 1860s that professionalization of baseball was become commercialized, with tickets being players now sold had contracts and advertisers taking advantage given strict rules to follow.<ref>For more on the early professional development of the gatherings watching the gamebaseball, see: Furst, R.T.(2014)

Even during Early professional baseball and the Civil War, both sides were actively playing sporting press: shaping the game and some image of the prisoner camps had developed baseball diamonds, with the diamond now standardized by the 1857 rulesgame. [Online]. Available from: http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1664166. In fact</ref> Unfortunately, it this was Union prisoners of war that are credited with spreading also the popularity beginning of baseball open racism, where African American players were excluded from playing in the Southearly professional teams. The New York rules developed in 1857 were now becoming widespread and Although the convention is Jackie Robinson was the Civil War, first African American player to play professional Major League baseball after this ban was lifted in fact1947, helped to spread these rules as men were stationed in different parts of actuality several African American players played professional baseball either before the country ban or were even prisoners in the Southas pretending to be Native Americans.

In the 1860, the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) developed, which was an amateur association for players and clubs. By the late 1860s, the popularity of baseball led to the development of the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Even before the development of the Red Stockings, some of the best amateur players were now getting paid to play for specific clubs, indicating the increasingly competitive nature of baseball. Soon in the 1870s other teams followed, including the, Chicago White Stockings and Boston Red Stockings, and a league of professional teams playing each other was formed. The first professional association was called the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, although it only lasted from 1871-1875. With the professionalization of baseball, players now had contracts and given strict rules to follow. Unfortunately, this was also the beginning of open racism, where African American players were excluded from playing in the early professional teams. Although the convention is Jackie Robinson was the first African American player to play baseball after this ban was lifted in 1947, in actuality several African American players played professional baseball either before the ban or as pretending to be Native Americans. In the 1880s, several leagues were emerging but it was the major cities that developed the most popular and appealing leagues. These teams eventually formed what became the National League, which was a league of eastern cities. A Western League of western cities emerged in 1893and ultimately became the American League. This created a situation of somewhat two major leagues that were parallel or similar to each other, although the style of play was slightly different in that the Western league was considered more aggressivenovel in its style. By 1902, the two leagues signed an agreement to play each other in a World Series contest. This now formed what became the American and National leagues and conception of the World Series as we know it today.

By Financial problems occurred soon after, however, with a new Negro league forming in the first decade of the 20th century1930s. In World War II, many African American players were now becoming national superstars. This included Honus Wagner, who was adept at stealing bases as well as hitting. One major difference older and so they did not serve in the game was the ball itselfwar effort. Baseballs They remained and played in the early 20th century were expensiveUnited States, making a single ball often used where African Americans working in an entire gamefactories and other work increasingly came to watch their games. Even hitting In effect, as World War II limited the baseball out of Major League because so many players left for the park required war effort, the ball Negro league proved to be retrieved if possible. This allowed pitchers to use this to their advantage, as they contributed to disfiguring a diversion for those in the ballhome front, making it harder to hit. Pitchers such as Cy Young began to dominate the gameincluding many whites. This was also likely helped setup the period when larger ballparks were now being built, accommodating the much larger audiences coming to games. In stage for the 1910s, new hitters, such as Ty Cobb, emerged integration and made raising of the game now more offensive-orientedban on African American players in baseball in 1947. However, <ref>For a history on the biggest event was Negro league and the so-called Black Socks scandal of 1919 between African American experience with baseball in the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Redsearly 20th century, see: Hogan, L.D. (2014) <i>The Chicago White Sox were by far the best team but purposley lost the World Series by taking bribesForgotten History of African American Baseball</i>. Santa Barbara, California, Praeger, ABC-CLIO, LLC.</ref>

The big turnaround though came Since the late 1940s, television began shaping baseball. As with many other sports, the Babe Ruth eraspread of television shaped schedules and when games could be played, as his slugging and popularization of including night games becoming more common since the home run in 1940s.<ref>For more on the 1920s now made influence of television on baseball an internationally known game and synonymous with the United States, see: Ham, E.L. The combination (2011) Broadcasting baseball: a history of the national pastime on radioand television. Jefferson, increased offenseNC, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.</ref> Today, baseball continues to be dubbed America's pastime and with basketball and football is among the larger than life appearance of Babe Ruth popularized the game to a level unseen for any other sport most popular sports in the United States. This was time commonly called as the <div class="portal" style="Golden Agewidth:85%;" >==Related DailyHistory.org Articles==*[[How did modern boxing emerge?]]*[[How did the game of baseball, as its popularity was at a frenzy level across golf emerge?]]*[[How did the marathon emerge?]]*[[How did the country.modern tennis emerge?]]*[[How did basketball develop?]]</div>{{Mediawiki:Sports History}}