Historical Events Contributing As much as the Development of Baseball

Baseball is Americans true activity. Fans gather and cheer for their favorite team through the season and discuss the details when speaking with friends, family, and co-workers. The first beginnings of baseball can be traced way to the 18th century. During that time, the game was a little different, not commercialized, and the rules varied. The concepts, however, were almost the same. As the sport became popular, semi-pro baseball clubs started to develop pretty much within the 1860's.

The New York Knickerbockers were the first team to play using today's rules. Their club was formed in 1845 and was made up of people in the upper middle class of New York. It was a social club that played the sport as a activity. They were amateurs and not an expert organization. Club members followed a set of rules called the "Knickerbocker Rules." These rules mainly pertained to organization issues but also specified game rules. Earlier practices allowed players to be tagged out with a thrown ball. The New York Knickerbockers prohibited this type of play and set rules for tagging that are similar to current baseball tagging guidelines. These rules were set up to prevent arguments and fights which the original method often created.

By 1857, there were sixteen baseball teams within the NY area. They came together to form the Nation's Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). This marks the beginning of organized baseball. It was also the first organization to create a championship for the sport. During the Civil War, membership grew tremendously. By 1867, there existed four-hundred or even more clubs in the organization. These clubs were all over the country and reached as far as California. It wasn't until 1869 that professional play was recognized and allowed.

Professional baseball did not become widespread until the 1870's. At that time the amateur and professional players split. A brand new association called the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was created for those professional teams. This association remained around for about four years and was the very beginnings of the major leagues. Contracts were enforced through the clubs which prevented players from straying to other clubs. Clubs also had to play all scheduled games even after the team was out of the championship. During this time, clubs made an agreement that denied non-white players the right to play professional baseball which remained effective until 1947.

Many leagues formed in the following years and many disbanded shortly after. The American League and National Leagues prevailed with the struggle. Their competitive contract offers to players created large bidding wars that caused baseball contracts to be broken from coast to coast. Both of these leagues combined with the national association signed an agreement that established dominance over major league baseball and developed the World Series. The agreement prevented independents from buying out the best players in the major league. Bidding wars were almost eliminated. Eventually most of the independent leagues joined the NA to prevent pilfering, gambling, and other issues. Check out Leo-wells-on-sports.com to see more about baseball and see his discussions on today's baseball events.

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