History of Baseball

June 19, 1846

• On June 19, 1846 the first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ• The game was played between the New York Nine and New York

Knickerbockers• The New York Nine defeated the Knickerbockers 23-1 in 4 innings

The game turns professional!

• In 1856 journalists started referring to baseball as the national pastime• The first baseball club was created, the National Association of Base

Ball Players, which consisted of 16 teams• In 1869 the league barred African Americans from participating• The first professional league lasted from 1871 to 1875• The National League was founded in 1876• In 1884 overhand pitching was legalized• All modern baseball rules were in place by 1895

Early 1900s

• In 1903 the first World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Americans and the Boston Americans won• The next year the World Series was not held, the New York Giants

refused to recognize the American League as a professional sports league• In 1905 the New York Giants reached the World Series, but this time

played in the World Series• In the early years of baseball many players argued that they were not

payed fairly

Ruth and Racial Integration

• The dead-ball era ended early in the 1920s• Strict rules regarding the ball’s size, shape, and composition were put

into place• Babe Ruth, the first power hitter of the era, helped change the game• In the 1930’s Branch Rickey, St.Louis Cardinals manager helped create

the farm system• The first college world series was played in 1947• In 1946 Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers becoming

the first African American baseball player to break the color barrier

Racial Integration and Movement to the West• Larry Doby also debuted with the Chicago White Sox• In 1951 the first Latin American players, Chico Carrasquel and Minnie

Minoso debuted with the Chicago White Sox• Racial integration occurred slowly • In 1958 the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the New

York Giants moved to San Francisco• They were the first teams to move west of St. Louis• In 1961 the MLB moved to the west coast with the expansion team of

the Los Angeles Angels

Attendance Records

• After the 1960 season, pitchers started to become dominant again• After 1968 season in an effort to increase hitting, the pitchers mound

was reduced from 15 to 10 inches and reduced the strike zone• The first major league players strike occurred in 1972• In 1973 the American League introduced the designated hitter• In 1975 reserve clauses became struck down and introduced free

agency

Age of Steroids

• In 2001 Barry Bonds hit 73 HRs in a single season, a MLB record• This raised suspicion of substance abuse, as many people believed a

person could hit that many HRs in a single season• Many other players were under suspicion of performance enhancing

drugs such Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens• In 2010 the games became mostly pitcher’s games at the runs scored

per game was at its lowest in 20 years• In 2012 the playoff standings were altered were there would be 2 wild

card teams from each league