The Origins Of Baseball

By Author: Jorge Reis
Total Articles: 4717
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America’s favorite pastime is baseball. Who invented baseball has been the subject of myth and many questions. Whatever the true origin of the game, baseball is very much a part of the culture of America.

Who Invented Baseball

1.The most popular belief among American’s is that the man who invented baseball was Abner Doubleday. This belief comes from a panel of experts that was commissioned to determine the origins of the sport. Based on the testimony of a man by the name of Abner Graves, the panel declared Abner Doubleday the man who invented baseball. Unfortunately, Abner Graves’s testimony was later found to be unreliable when just a year later he shot and killed his wife and was declared insane.

2.In reality the man who invented baseball was Alexander Cartwright. He took the popular game known as Town Ball and changed it into a much more elaborate game known as baseball. He was also the first person to write down the rules of baseball and many of them are still used today. One of the best rules he included was outlawing the practice of ‘soaking ...
... the runner’ under which defenders were allowed to throw a ball at and hit a runner. Alexander Cartwright was recognized by congress in 1953 as the official founder of the game.

The Origins of the Game of Baseball

While it is true we can credit Alexander Cartwright as the man who invented baseball, the game itself is actually based on several older games played both in America and Britain. These include:

1.Cricket
2.Town Ball
3.English Rounders

While these games served as the basis of the game, Alexander Cartwright develop and entirely new form with the invention of baseball.

What He Started

The man who invented baseball probably had no idea what he had started. The first official game under the new rules was played in 1846. When Cartwright journeyed across the country for the Gold Rush, he introduced his new game to every town he passed through. Baseball is now considered America’s favorite pass time and every small town has leagues for children and adults alike to participate in the game that Alexander Cartwright created.
About Author:
Jorge Reis is the author of History of Baseball and Who Invented Baseball.