The first and earliest written evidence of baseball in America is a bylaw written

in 1791 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The document, discovered by Society for

Baseball Research member John Thorn in 2004, offers strong evidence that

baseball is a unique American game, and it casts doubt on the long held

belief that baseball was derived from rounders, a British game. It also raises

the question of the origins of cricket, as it has been widely thought that

baseball followed cricket, which was developed from a folk game known as

stool ball (1085 A.D).

As far back as 2000 B.C. ball and stick type games have been played.

Hieroglyphics depict ancient Egyptians playing a game similar to baseball in

1500 B.C., although there exists some major differences between its depiction

and the modern game.

The 1791 Massachusetts by-law banned the playing of the game within 80

yards of the town meeting house. The first documented formal organization to

play baseball in America was the NY Knickerbockers established on

September 23, 1845. The first rules were written by Alexander Cartwright,

considered to be the Father of modern baseball. However, long before this

time ball playing of one sort or another was noted by many authors and in

many documents.

A May 8, 1844 city Ordinance in New York City prohibits "ball" playing of any

sort. Abner Doubleday was said to have "invented" the game of baseball in

1839, although a later inquiry proved this to be a myth. Cartwright??s role in

baseball has also been questioned. Most experts and historians now agree

that he was simply the first to write down the rules that had existed for quite

some time. In addition, there is strong evidence that rule changes were one of

the reasons Cartwright wrote them down.

There has been a lot written about the sport after the founding of the

Knickerbockers, such as articles about the popularity and evolvement of the

"New York Game" rules into the mainstream of baseball. The original

Knickerbocker rules addressed foul lines and deleted the "plug out," which

involved hitting the runner with the ball to gain an out. They also delineated

the tag-out and the force-out. Strangely, they don??t provide a pitching distance

or a baseline length. Forty-two paces was the actual written distance from

home to second base, and from first to third. "Innings" were also not

mentioned. Instead, the first team to twenty-one was declared the winner,

given both teams are allowed an equal number of at-bats. The pitching

method was also described as underhand, perhaps similar to town ball,

another early game with English roots.

The rules may have first been written by Cartwright, but there is a long and

involved history of earlier games with similar rules. Many American and

opposing English claims of inventing baseball have tried to argue their

positions by presenting evidence to back their claims. Despite all of this, the

origin of modern baseball still remains a mystery.

After 1845, the history of baseball in America starts to be fairly clear. The rules

were standardized in 1857. In 1858, the first baseball league, the National

Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), emerged. They were not

considered professional players, as they received no money for their

participation. However, the games were public and admission was charged to

witness the games. The first documented college baseball game was played

in 1859 as Amherst defeated Williams 73-32 in 26 innings in Pittsfield,

Massachusetts.

In 1860, the "New York Game" was commonly referred to as "the National

pastime" in many written works. Baseball gained momentum in popularity and

slowly spread throughout the Country during the Civil War. Over 100 clubs

were in existence when the war ended and in 1869, the world's first

professional baseball team was established. The Cincinnati Red Stockings

ended their first season undefeated. The NABBP split into two groups, one for

the amateurs and one for the professionals. The amateur leg of the

association dissolved after only a few years.

The National League, which still exists, was established in 1875 after the

NABBP proved ineffective on several levels. The power shifted to the club

organizations and baseball entered into an age full of conflict, remembered

mostly for the dreaded player reserve clause that oppressed players and held

them as "slaves" to their contracts.

Blacks and Hispanics or any other non-white players were repeatedly forced

out, left out, or sent to the minor leagues. This was a shameful practice that

didn??t end until 1947. The Western League of Baseball Players, a minor

league of the Great Lakes States area became the American League in 1899.

A new era in baseball began in 1901. It was known as the "Dead Ball Era",

because of a sharp decrease in offense produced in both leagues. This era

continued until the emergence of Babe Ruth in 1919.