Baseball History

Baseball, like most other popular sports, developed over a period of time with rules that became systematic in order to allow organized competition. Abner Doubleday is sometimes credited with creating the game, but the official modern rules seem to have originated with the New York Knickerbockers Club, which, after a century and a half, would still be recognized as baseball by modern fans.

Professional baseball developed before there were leagues. The two "major" leagues of baseball have dominated the sport since 1900. The National League was formed in 1876 and the American League, formerly a minor league known as the Western League, which claimed major league status in 1901. Other historically important leagues include the Negro Leagues, active from 1920 to 1962, and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, active from 1943 to 1954.

Since 1903, the champions of the two major leagues, the National and American league, have played in the World Series at the conclusion of the regular season. The designation is considered odd in most of the world, since baseball is a game almost entirely played in the North America, with the addition of a few in which influence has been strong, such as Japan and Taiwan.

ORIGINS OF BASEBALL
• Father(s) of Baseball? - Much mythology surrounds the beginnings of baseball, but the origins stretch back to kids games played in the 18th century, with the game most resembling baseball first established in New York in 1845... Continue Reading
WORLD SERIES & LEGENDS OF THE GAME
• The World Series - The World Series, which has determined the championship of professional baseball every year but two since 1903, can be traced to a series played in 1884.... Continue Reading

• Babe Ruth - George Herman Ruth, known to the world as "Babe Ruth," was the first sports superstar.... Continue Reading
• Branch Rickey - Wesley Branch Rickey, born of Ohio stock in 1881, spent an undistinguished career as a major league player and field manager, but there is something historic about the man.... Continue Reading
• Joe Dimaggio - Joe Dimaggio was the star in center field for the New York Yankees after the end of the Babe Ruth era.... Continue Reading
• Jackie Robinson - A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. - Jackie Robinson.... Continue Reading
• Hank Aaron - "Hammerin' Hank," they called him — which was fitting for a man who made Major League Baseball pitchers literally quake like aspens when he strode to the plate.... Continue Reading
• Willie Mays - From his start in the major leagues in 1951 with the New York Giants, to his finale with the New York Mets in 1973, Willie Mays exerted an impact on baseball as few men have, before or since.... Continue Reading
BASEBALL'S BLACK HISTORY
• Negro Leagues - The legacy the Negro Leagues is one of courage, perseverance, and strength to overcome the oppressive racial segregation and volatile times of the era. Conversely, by losing its stars to the Major Lea... Continue Reading

• Josh Gibson: Negro League Home Run Hitter - If ever there were a baseball player from the Negro Leagues that deserved to be in Major League baseball, it would be Josh Gibson, also known as the "Black Babe Ruth."... Continue Reading
• Cool Papa Bell - James "Cool Papa" Bell played havoc on opposing pitchers and catchers in the Negro Leagues during the 1920s and '30s, using his "fastest ever" tag to steal bases seemingly at will.... Continue Reading
• Satchel Paige - Satchel Paige was a montage, a crazy quilt, a collage of the Negro Leagues, an enigma, a wonder of science. Yes, Leroy "Satchel" Paige was all of those — and more.... Continue Reading
• Oscar Charleston - When one thinks of the Negro Leagues and the well-known personalities that plied their trade there, names such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, and Cool Papa Bell immediately enter the str... Continue Reading
• Buck Leonard - Walter "Buck" Leonard was a standout first baseman for the renowned pre-World War II Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. His onus was to play in the shadow of perhaps the greatest player the Negro L... Continue Reading
• Larry Doby - "Larry Who?" just might be a valid question regarding Larry Doby. Since Jackie Robinson got all the ink and exposure in the media for being the first black player in the 20th century to play in the Ma... Continue Reading
BASEBALL SCANDALS

• Black Sox Scandal - The year was 1919. The Great War had ended the previous Fall. The American public clamored to return to normalicy. And what better way to begin the catharsis than immersing themselves in the American ... Continue Reading
• Kenesaw Mountain Landis: Baseball Commissioner - "Regardless of the outcome of the juries, no player that throws a ball game, no man that entertains proposals or promises to throw a game, no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked p... Continue Reading
• Shoeless Joe Jackson - "Jackson didn't seem to have any weaknesses . . .. He gave me more trouble than anyone else."... Continue Reading
BASEBALL MUSEUMS & LANDMARKS
• Baseball Hall of Fame - "Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations"... Continue Reading
• Legends of the Game Baseball Museum - The Legends of the Game Baseball Museum, in Arlington, Texas, gives a unique, interactive, exciting, and educational peep into America’s most followed pastime – Major League Baseball.... Continue Reading
• Louisville Slugger Museum - Managed by Hillerich & Bradsby Company, the Louisville Slugger Museum is located in the heart of downtown Louisville’s historic West Main District. It provides visitors a chance to learn about the off... Continue Reading
• Negro Leagues Baseball Museum: Located in Kansas City, Missouri preserves and exhibits the history of the Negro Leagues. www.nlbm.com
• Yankee Stadium - Yankee Stadium, “The House That Ruth Built” and the first triple-deck structure in baseball, is located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home stadium of New York Yankees of the American League o... Continue Reading