Baseball has always been known in the U.S. as the national pastime. Most of us will never play a real game of baseball, especially since pitching is so difficult. There are however, derivative games that are a lot of fun. You don't have to be a professional athlete to play them and softball and slow-pitch leagues are fun to join.

There are also many different leagues of baseball in America. There are major leagues, minor leagues, little leagues, and the list goes on. Many parent's like to put their kids into baseball rather than football or hockey since it is a relatively no contact sport and focuses on skills other than how hard you can hit your opponent. Baseball takes patience, and excellent hand to eye coordination. How else can you hit a ball coming at you at 50 miles per hour?

The history of baseball is hard to pinpoint since many forms of it have shown up all over the world, but in the US, the first teams began popping up in the early 1800s. The game was based primarily on an English game called rounders. By the end of the century it was easily the most popular sport in the nation. In 1845 Alexander Cartwright had created the modern baseball field as we know it. He is also credited with coming up with the modern set of baseball rules.

Baseball craze has gripped the whole of America, young and old, men and women alike. One reason for this could be that it is a skill oriented rather than athleticism allowing all to participate. First recorded baseball game in its modern avtar was played by Cartwright and his team in 1946.

Top baseball players have always attracted our interest. Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire are names we all know. Kids play for hours hoping to become the next Willie Mays. A lot of people love to go to batting cages and just practice hitting baseballs.

The growing popularity of baseball has lead to the emergence of The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown New York. This popular museum is visited by thousands every year and showcases the paraphernalia of baseball players over the years such as bats, jerseys etc. A visit to the museum is awe inspiring one as you come face to face with the game and passion in the American people for it.

All kinds of people continue to love baseball. They enjoy playing it as well as watching it. Proff of its popularity (were it needed) is the fact that we can even listen to baseball songs.