MLB: The History of the American Pastime
By Keaton Moore
Early Years
While whispers of baseball can be traced back to 18th century England, folklore of baseball’s American origins is centered around Abner Doubleday. He is known as the mythological father and inventor of baseball, despite his story being thoroughly debunked.
As the story goes, Doubleday came up with the sport during his time in Cooperstown, New York in 1839. According to legend, he coined the name “baseball”, designed the diamond, assigned positions and created many of the foundational rules. Although the story contains many unanswerable questions and holes, the legend lives on because of the efforts of Al Spalding, who desired to give baseball a rich American backstory.
Regardless, Alexander Cartwright recorded the first official rules of baseball in 1845. One year later, he put on and competed in the first recorded baseball game in history. Despite Cartwright’s club, the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York, coming up on the losing end, his work laid the foundation for baseball to build on.
By 1858, the growing number of baseball teams in America led the to the formation of the National Association of Base Ball Players, the first organized amateur baseball league. Although the Civil War caused many teams to drop out of the NABBP, the war actually helped spread baseball throughout the country. In fact, the number of baseball teams grew to over 100 by 1868.
Shortly after evolving into a professional league, the National League absorbed the NABBP in 1875. Contrary to the NABBP, business men ran the National League rather than the players themselves. Their lack of financial issues allowed them to outlast their rival leagues until the end of the 19th century.