HOLD: The History of America's Past-Time Baseball

Ever since Jack Norworth wrote the famous lyrics “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in 1908, the world has known that Baseball is America's favorite sport. There is no need to deny that the game depicts what many Americans believe that we are all about in this country and that is the sense of fair play, team play, and athletic excellence. During the summer months, children all over America of all ages play some form of baseball. Today the games are watched worldwide and the opening event starts with the President of the United States throwing out the first ball declaring, “Let's play ball.”

Indeed this is now considered a truly American sport but the game got its origins from the many different bat and ball games from the cultures of the different European nations. Baseball in America started in the 19th century in a grassy field with red clay brick being used for the different bases. The very first official baseball game was played in New York on September 23, 1845 by a team then called the New York Knickerbockers. The team was part of the New York social club headed by Alexander Cartwright. Mr. Cartwright was the one who laid out the ground rules for the game and today those same rules are still used with just a few added ones to make the game complete for modern day play.

During the Civil War, the game grew in popularity with solders from both the North and South playing when they were not fighting each other. After the war then the different social clubs started the major leagues and minor leagues so that teams could face off against each other according to their abilities. We have seen many famous players over the years from the start with Jackie Robinson being the first African-American to play in the major leagues. That was just the start with many other great players like Mickey Mantle, Mark “Bird,” Babe Ruth, and many more joining in to make All-Star Teams.

The first All-Star Game was held in Chicago's Comiskey Park in 1933. The National League at the time played against the ,a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_League"=title="American League">American League