By Khaleid Kinsey History of Baseball

Origin of Baseball Although the exact origin of baseball is unknown, most historians agree that it is based on the English game of rounders. A game which began to become quite popular in this country in the early 19th century. Many sources report the growing popularity of a game called “townball”, “base”, or “baseball”.

Baseball Throughout the early part of the 19th century, small towns formed teams, and baseball clubs were formed in larger cities. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright wanted to formalize a list of rules by which all teams could play by. Although popular legend says that the game was invented by Abner Doubleday, but baseball’s true father is Cartwright.

The Original Knickerbocker Rules - 1845 The bases shall be from "home" to second base 42 paces; from first to third base 42 paces equidistant. The game to consist of 21 counts or aces, but at the conclusion an equal number of hands must be played. The ball must be pitched and not thrown for the bat A ball knocked outside the range of the first or third base is foul Three balls being struck at and missed, and the last one caught, is a hand out; if not caught, is considered fair, and the striker bound to run A ball being struck or tipped, and caught either flying or on the first bound, is a hand out A player, running the bases, shall be out, if the ball is in the hands of an adversary on the base, as the runner is touched by it before he makes his base-it being under- stood, however, that in no instance is a ball to be thrown at him.

Knickerbocker Rules – The Original 1845 Cont. 8. A player running, who shall prevent an adversary from catching or getting the ball before making his base, is a hand out. 9. If two hands are already out, a player running home at the time a ball is struck, can not make an ace if the striker is caught out. 10. Three hands out, all out. 11. Players must take their strike in regular turn. 12. No ace or base can be made on a foul strike. 13. A runner can not be put out in making one base, when a balk is made by the pitcher. 14. But one base allowed when the ball bounds out of the field when struck.

More About Baseball The first recorded baseball contest took place a year later, in 1846. Cartwright and his Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York City lost to the New York Baseball Club in a game at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey. These amateur games became more frequent and more popular.

Rounders Rounders is a game played between two teams each alternating between batting and fielding. The game originates in England and has been played there since Tudor times, with the earliest reference being in 1745 in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book where it is called “baseball”. Rounders involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic, or metal bat and then running around four bases in order to score. The first nationally formalized rules were made up by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland in 1844.

Rounders Cont. The game of rounders is regulated by the GAA in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and the National Rounders Association (NRA) in Great Britain. Competitions are held between teams from both traditions with games alternating between codes, often one version being played in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Game-play centers around innings where teams alternate at batting and fielding. A maximum of nine players are allowed to field at one time. Points (“rounders”) are scored by the batting team by going through four bases or posts without being put out.

Cont. After rules were first formalized in Ireland, in 1889 associations were established in Liverpool and Scotland. The NRA was not formed until 1943. Baseball (both the New York game and the now defunct Massachusetts game) as well as softball are likely to share the same historical roots as rounders and bear a resemblance to the GAA version of the game. Rounders is linked to British baseball, still played in Liverpool, Cardiff, and Newport. Although rounders is assumed to be older than baseball, literary references to early forms of “base-ball” in England pre-date use of the term “rounders”. Rounders is played now from school-level to international.

2nd post Bowler’s square 3rd post 1st post Batter’s square 4th post

Rounders Basics: Bowling and No-Balls The bowler must bowl (toss) a ball towards the batter so that: it is thrown underhanded the ball arrives without bouncing and within the batter’s square the ball is above the batter’s knee, below the batter’s head, and not at the batter’s body the bowler’s feet are inside the bowler’s square when the ball is bowled otherwise a ‘no-ball’ is called. A better can attempt to hit a no-ball, if desired whether the ball is hit or not, but cannot return once first post reached. If two consecutive no-balls are bowled to the same batter, the batter scores a half rounder.

Rounder Basics Batting: The batter gets one chance to hit the ball (ignoring no-balls) and must run even if the ball is not struck. If the ball is hit behind the batting square or not hit at all, the batter can only run to first base. Otherwise, the batter runs around as many of the bases as possible and stops at a post only when the batter thinks there is a danger of the next post being ‘stumped’

Rounders Basics: Batting Cont. The batter is out if: the batter hits the ball and it is caught without it hitting the ground the post being run to is ‘stumped’- a fielder touches it with the ball the batter runs inside a post the batter loses contact with a post when the bowler has the ball inside the bowler’s square the batter overtakes a fellow batter when running around the posts. while not running between posts, the batter obstructs a fielder The batter’s foot is outside the batter’s square when the ball is bowled.

Scoring Rounders A score is immediately posted in the following situations: If the batter hits the ball or is bowled a no-ball and reaches the fourth post, a rounder is scored. If the batter fails to hit the ball and reaches the second post, a half-rounder is scored. If the batter hits the ball and reaches the second post, a half rounder is scored. A fielder obstructs a batter running to a post, a half-rounder is scored. If the batter hits the ball and reaches the first, second, or third post without being out, the batter stays at that post until the next ball is bowled. After the next ball is bowled the batter can run to the next post if they wish, even on a no-ball.

Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1910. As he grew, he excelled early in sports. At UCLA, Jackie was the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. In 1941, he was named to the All-American football team. Because of financial issues, he was forced to leave college, and later decided to join the U.S. Army.

Jackie Robinson Cont. In 1945, Jackie played one season in the Negro Baseball League, traveling all over the Midwest with the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ president Branch Rickey asked Jackie about joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. He is now known as the first African American baseball player to break MLB’s color barrier that segregated the sport for more than 50 yrs.

More of Jackie At the end of his rookie season, he had become the NL Rookie of the Year. In 1949, he was named as the NL’s MVP of the Year. Eventually in 1962, Jackie was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Satchel Paige Leroy “Satchel” Paige was a pitcher in Negro Baseball League. In 1933 he had a streak of 21 straight wins and a record of 31-4. His one goal was to pitch in the Major Leagues. In 1948 his dream came true. The Cleveland Indians were in need of extra pitching for the pennant race.

More Satchel In addition to Cleveland, Satchel played for St. Louis and Kansas City. When his career was finished he had a modest record of 28-31 record and a 3.29 ERA. He also took up a coaching job for the Atlanta Braves in 1968. In 1971, Paige was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Bibliography http://www.jackierobinson.com/about/bio.html http://www.mastersgames.com/rules/rounders http://www.rpi.edu/~fiscap/history_files/history1.htm http://www.satchelpaige.com/bio2.html Thank You