Basic Rules
Teams consist of nine players who use a leather-covered hard ball, a wooden (in the professional game) or aluminum bat, and padded gloves. Additionally, the batter, catcher, and home-plate umpire wear special protective gear. Teams alternate turns in the field and at bat, the home team batting last. One turn at bat for each team constitutes an inning, and nine innings constitute a game. In the field there are a pitcher, a catcher, four infielders, and three outfielders. The pitcher throws overhand, employing a variety of deliveries (fastball, curve, knuckleball, etc.), from the raised pitcher's mound to home plate, a distance of 60.5 ft (18.4 m). An opposing batter attempts to hit the pitches and safely reach base, while the fielders attempt to put the batter out through various plays. A batter who misses three pitches, or fails to swing at three judged hittable, is out on "strikes"; but if the pitcher first throws four pitches out of the strike zone, the batter obtains a base on balls, or "walks" to first base. A run is scored every time a batter becomes a runner and crosses home plate after touching each base in the prescribed order. When the fielding team puts out three batters (or runners), the teams exchange places. If the score is tied at the end of nine innings, play continues into extra innings until one team has scored more runs than the other in an equal number of turns at bat.
History
Early History
Baseball developed from variations of the English game of rounders, from related regional and local games, and from children's games like "one old cat," all of which had evolved through centuries. The traditional story that Abner Doubleday Doubleday, Abner, 1819–93, once credited as originator of baseball and Union general in the American Civil War, b. Saratoga co., N.Y., grad. West Point, 1842. The A. G.
..... Click the link for more information. invented baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, N.Y. has been discredited. Rather, in the 1840s Alexander Cartwright of the New York Knickerbocker Club standardized many of the features and field dimensions still in use today. It is widely thought that the first game of modern baseball was played by the Knickerbockers in the fall of 1845 in a park called Elysian Fields in Hoboken, N.J. Sportswriter Henry Chadwick wrote (1858) the first rule book, and though the rules continue to change by small degrees, by 1900 the game was essentially that of today.
The Development of Professional Baseball in the United States
In the mid-19th cent. baseball was primarily popular among local clubs in the Northeast, often made up of members of the same occupation. Eventually, competition broadened, and an organization to promote standardized rules and facilitate scheduling, the National Association of Baseball Players, was formed in 1858. The movement of Union soldiers during the Civil War helped to spread the game, and increased opportunities for leisure, improved communications, and easier travel after the war fostered a wider competitive base and increased interest.
In 1869, Harry Wright organized the Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first professional team, and took them on a 57-game national tour, during which they were unbeaten. Seeking to expand on the Reds' success, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players in 1871 chartered nine teams in eight cities as the first professional league. In the 1870s a number of competing leagues were formed, including the National League, which soon became the predominant association.
Financial hardships, gambling-related scandals, and franchise upheaval plagued all the leagues, and a players' revolt in 1890, which resulted in a short-lived Players Association, weakened the National League. A competing league, the Western Association, changed its name to the American League in 1900 and placed clubs in several eastern cities. In 1903 the champions of the American and National leagues met for the first time in what became known as the World Series.
Both leagues fought off the challenge of the Federal League in 1914–15, but baseball's popularity and stability were threatened when the 1919 Chicago White Sox conspired to lose the World Series. Club owners then hired Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis Landis, Kenesaw Mountain (kĕn`əsô'), 1866–1944, American jurist and commissioner of baseball (1921–44), b.
..... Click the link for more information. as the first baseball commissioner (1920–44) and charged him with resolving the crisis. Landis banned eight members of the "Black Sox" for life (despite their acquittal in a court of law), helping to lift suspicion from the professional game.
The Golden Years
The years between 1920 and World War II were the heyday of Babe Ruth Ruth, Babe (George Herman Ruth), 1895–1948, American baseball player, considered by many the greatest of all baseball players, b. Baltimore.
Early Life
When he was seven years old his parents placed him in St.
..... Click the link for more information. , the game's preeminent legend. Other stars made their names as well: Ruth's durable New York Yankee teammate, Lou Gehrig Gehrig, Lou (Louis Gehrig) (gâr`ĭg), 1903–41, American baseball player, b. New York City.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the contentious batting champion Ty Cobb Cobb, Ty (Tyrus Raymond Cobb), 1886–1961, American baseball player, b. Narrows, Ga. In 1905 he joined the Detroit Tigers as center fielder and in his 24 years in the American League was one of the most spectacular and brilliant players in the history of the
..... Click the link for more information. ; outstanding pitchers like Lefty Grove Grove, Robert Moses (Lefty Grove), 1900–1975, American baseball player, b. Lonaconing, Md. A left-handed pitcher, he played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1925–33) and Boston Red Sox (1934–41).
..... Click the link for more information. , Dizzy Dean Dean, Jerome Herman (Dizzy Dean), 1911–74, American baseball player, b. Lucas, Ark. His name was originally Jay Hanna Dean. A colorful right-handed pitcher, Dean performed brilliantly (1930–37) for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Walter Johnson Johnson, Walter Perry, 1887–1946, American baseball player, b. Humboldt, Kans. He began playing with the Washington Senators of the American League in 1907. A right-handed pitcher, he won 417 games while losing 279 before he retired from active play in 1927.
..... Click the link for more information. ; graceful Yankee center fielder Joe DiMaggio DiMaggio, Joe (Joseph Paul DiMaggio) (dĭmăj`ēō', –mäj`ēō')
..... Click the link for more information. ; and sluggers Hank Greenberg and Jimmie Foxx Foxx, Jimmie (James Emory Foxx), 1907–67, American baseball player, b. Sudlersville, Md. Foxx played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1926–35), the Boston Red Sox (1936–42), the Chicago Cubs (1942–44), and the Philadelphia Phillies (1945).
..... Click the link for more information. , among others. Fans flocked to the large stadiums built in the 1920s.
When the Depression threatened spectatorship in the 1930s, night baseball, experimented with a half century earlier, became reality. Beginning in Cincinnati in 1935, organized baseball gradually became primarily an evening event. A network of minor league teams, scattered across the nation in smaller cities and towns, supported the two major leagues with developing talent and fan interest.
Integration of Professional Baseball
During World War II, many major league stars served in the armed forces. By the mid-1940s most had returned to their teams, but major league baseball continued to exclude black players, who, barred by a color line drawn in the 1880s, showcased their skills in separate leagues, especially the Negro National League (1920, folded late 1920s, revived 1933), the Eastern Colored League (1923, folded late 1920s), and the Negro American League (1936). Black players like Satchel Paige Paige, Satchel (Leroy Paige) (săch`əl pāj), 1906–82, American baseball player, b. Mobile, Ala.
..... Click the link for more information. , Buck Leonard, Josh Gibson Gibson, Josh (Joshua Gibson) 1911–47, American baseball player, b. Buena Vista, Ga. A catcher and the long-time batterymate of Satchel Paige , Gibson was called "the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Judy Johnson, among the best in baseball, often played before large crowds, "invisible" to the white public. In 1947, Branch Rickey Rickey, Branch, 1881–1965, American baseball executive, b. Stockdale, Ohio. As manager or executive, he was with the St. Louis Browns (1913–15), the St.
..... Click the link for more information. , Brooklyn's general manager, began the integration of the major leagues by bringing Jackie Robinson Robinson, Jackie (Jack Roosevelt Robinson), 1919–72, American baseball player, the first African-American player in the modern major leagues, b. Cairo, Ga. He grew up in Pasadena, Calif., where he became an outstanding athlete in high school and junior college.
..... Click the link for more information. to the Dodgers. Weathering great pressure and the hatred of many players and fans, Robinson became one of the most electrifying performers in the game, paving the way for other black stars like Willie Mays Mays, Willie Howard, Jr. ("Say Hey" Willie Mays), 1931–, American baseball player, b. Fairfield, Ala. He began his professional career at 17 with the Black Barons of the Negro National League.
..... Click the link for more information. and Henry Aaron Aaron, Henry Louis (Hank Aaron), 1934–, U.S. baseball player, b. Mobile, Ala. A durable outfielder noted for his powerful wrists, Aaron was among the first blacks to play a full career in the major leagues (1954–76).
..... Click the link for more information. . Integration became a fact of baseball life so quickly that by the mid-1950s there were more African-American players on major league teams than there had been in the Negro leagues at their height of popularity just a decade earlier.
Expansion and Labor Conflict
The locations of major league franchises, stable for 50 years, became unsettled in the 1950s. The Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, and other teams joined a westward migration made feasible by the expansion of air travel and attractive by population shifts (and, ultimately, by the promise of regional television coverage). The 1957 exodus of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants for California jarred New Yorkers but helped cement the game's nationwide base. In 1961, the two major leagues entered into a period of expansion, gradually adding new teams.
In the 1960s and 1970s, however, baseball's popularity was challenged by disillusionment of the young with established institutions, by the television-spurred boom of the National Football League (television was also presumed largely responsible for shrinkage of the minor-league system), and by divisiveness within the sport over new artificial playing surfaces, indoor stadiums, and rule changes like the American League's 1973 introduction of a designated hitter to bat for the pitcher (the National League never adopted the measure).
Player-club relations were tumultuous in the 1970s. The Major League Baseball Players' Association, formed in 1966, pushed for an end to the reserve clause, a contractual stipulation that bound a player to one club unless he was traded, released, or retired. Although the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld the clause three times in 50 years, a mid-1970s arbitrator declared several players "free agents," and thereafter the sport was obliged to allow freer player movement among bidding teams. The Players' Association continued through the 1970s and 1980s to strengthen the bargaining positions, salaries, and pensions of players. Conflict between team owners and players resulted in numerous work stoppages after 1972, the worst of which canceled the final third of the 1994 season, including the World Series.
Despite these distractions, however, the major-league game continued to flourish. As Babe Ruth was held to have carried the game through the post–Black Sox Black Sox scandal, episode in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox, the American League champions, were banned from baseball in 1921 for having conspired with gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.
..... Click the link for more information. era, the breaking of Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games-played record in 1996 by Cal Ripken Ripken, Cal, Jr. (Calvin Edward Ripken, Jr.), 1960–, American baseball player, b. Havre de Grace, Md. The son of a long-time coach and manager in the Baltimore Orioles organization, he joined the team in 1981 as a third baseman.
..... Click the link for more information. , Jr. and the assault on the single-season home-run record by Mark McGwire McGwire, Mark David (məgwīr`), 1963–, American baseball player, b. Pomona, Calif.
..... Click the link for more information. and Sammy Sosa Sosa, Sammy (Samuel Kevin Sosa Peralta) (sämwĕl` sō`sä pĕräl`tä), 1968–, Dominican baseball player.
..... Click the link for more information. in 1998 were seen as "rescuing" the game from its self-inflicted troubles. By the late 1990s there were 30 teams in six divisions in the major leagues (limited interleague play was introduced in 1997), and attendance and television revenues were high. In 2001 several records fell once again, as Barry Bonds Bonds, Barry Lamar, 1964–, American baseball player, b. Riverside, Calif. Bonds grew up surrounded by baseball; his father, Bobby Bonds, was a San Francisco Giants outfielder (1968–74), and the great Willie Mays was his godfather.
..... Click the link for more information. broke the single-season home-run record and other marks and Rickey Henderson Henderson, Rickey Henley, 1958–, American baseball player, b. Chicago. An outfielder with the Oakland Athletics (1979–84, 1989–93, 1994–95, 1998), New York Yankees (1985–89), Toronto Blue Jays (1993), San Diego Padres (1996–97,
..... Click the link for more information. crowned his other accomplishments by setting the career record for runs scored. At the same time, however, a growing anabolic steroid anabolic steroid (ăn'əbŏl`ĭk stĕr`oid, stĭr`–) or androgenic steroid
..... Click the link for more information. scandal tarnished the game, tainting the achievements of some of baseball's stars and forcing the leagues to introduce testing for steroids in 2003 and to suspend players for their use in 2005.
Amateur and International Baseball
Baseball's popularity has been spreading in recent decades, but it spread to a number of countries (Cuba, Japan) in the 1860s and 70s. The game is followed with fervent interest in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, other Caribbean countries, and elsewhere. The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) was founded in 1938 and now has 112 member countries; it has organized the Baseball World Cup since its founding. Baseball was made an Olympic sport in 1992, with the IBAF as the governing body, but in 2005 the International Olympic Committee voted to drop it (and softball) from the 2012 summer games. In 2006, however, the World Baseball Classic debuted, under the auspices of Major League Baseball, its players association, and other professional leagues and sanctioned by IBAF. The tournament featurea 16 teams in four pools; Japan won in the inaugural year. Little League, a worldwide organization founded in 1937 for youngsters, continues to sponsor world championships in Williamsport, Pa. College baseball, for many years relatively insignificant, has become a major source of Olympic and professional players, and fan interest peaks each year at the College World Series, held in Omaha, Nebr. Softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies'
..... Click the link for more information. , a form of baseball in which a larger ball and a smaller field are required, was one of the most popular recreational sports of the 1990s.
Bibliography
See L. S. Ritter, The Glory of Their Times (1966); D. Voigt, American Baseball (3 vol., 1966–83); R. W. Peterson, Only the Ball Was White (1970); H. Seymour, Baseball: The Early Years (1960), Baseball: The Golden Age (1971), and Baseball: The People's Game (1990); J. M. DiClerico and B. J. Pavelec, The Jersey Game (1991); G. Ward and K. Burns, Baseball (1994); P. Williams and W. P. Kinsella, When the Giants Were Giants (1994); C. C. Alexander, Our Game: An American Baseball History (1997) and Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era (2002); M. E. Lomax, Black Baseball Entrepeneurs, 1860–1901 (2003); B. Snyder, Beyond the Shadow of the Senators (2003); N. Lanctot, Negro League Baseball (2004); H. Bryant, Juicing the Game (2005); F. Vincent, The Only Game in Town (2006). See also The Baseball Encyclopedia (10th ed. 1996), N. Dawidoff, ed., Baseball: A Literary Anthology (2002), and J. Thorn et al., ed., Total Baseball (8th ed. 2004).
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