Origins of Baseball

1. Origins of Baseball • Baseball is defined as a competitive game of athletic skill played with a hard ball and a bat by two opposing nine-player teams. • It is widely regarded as the American national sport and is among the earliest professional games in the U.S. • Baseball is extremely popular in America and around the world.

2. Origins of Baseball • The game attracts millions of fans to parks and stadiums to watch games daily. • Millions more follow the games on television, radio or read about them in newspapers. • It is also played by millions – amateurs of all ages – high school, college, little league.

3. Origins of Baseball • The actual origins of the game are obscure – although the modern game developed in the U.S. • Most historians agree that baseball originated out of cricket – a game played in Great Britain. • Similarities exist – both have bat and ball and use bases.

4. Origins of Baseball • By the end of the 18th century, several versions of baseball were being played in the U.S. • The games were called “One Old Cat”, “Town Ball”, “New York Ball”. • At first, stakes were used for bases, but injuries led to the use of sand filled sacks.

5. Origins of Baseball • The sacks were nicknamed “bases” and thus the game earned a common name – “baseball”. • In 1839, Abner Doubleday then a cadet in the U.S. Military Academy established ground rules. • Set the field up in the shape of a diamond and placed the bases 60-feet apart.

6. Origins of Baseball • This first field was created in Cooperstown, New York – and is the current home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. • In 1845 – Alexander Joy Cartwright contributed to the rules of the game and developed it to how it is played today.

7. Origins of Baseball • Cartwright was a member of the New York Knickerbockers baseball team and played their first game on June 19, 1846. • Game was played in Hoboken, NJ – Knickerbockers lost 23-1 to the New York Nine. • Two years later, “plugging” was removed as a rule – or hitting a runner with the ball.

8. Origins of Baseball • In 1849, the Knickerbockers became the first team to introduce baseball uniforms. • Baseball became increasingly popular in the U.S. between 1850 and 1860. • In 1859 the first collegiate game was played between Amherst College and Williams College – Amherst won.

9. Professional Baseball Grows • Professional baseball was introduced in 1869 by the Cincinnati Red Stockings. • Other professional clubs were organized in various parts of the country and in 1871 the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was organized.

10. Professional Baseball Grows • Teams were represented from Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, New York, and Cleveland among others. • Early in 1876, a new league, called the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was established, causing the original Association to collapse.

11. Professional Baseball Grows • The National League (NL) still exists today and originally consisted of teams from Boston, Philadelphia, New York, St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati. • Other leagues formed, but represented smaller cities and towns and were referred to as “minor leagues”.

12. Professional Baseball Grows • In 1882 the American Association was created as a major league, and in 1884 the National League champion played the American Association champion in the first series of postseason games. • However, the American Association folded in 1891. In 1900, the American League (AL) was founded consisting of teams in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore.

13. Professional Baseball Grows • The AL demanded the NL recognize it as an equal. • The NL refused, causing the AL to raid their players. • The AL signed 111 NL players forcing the NL to recognize them as an equal.

14. Professional Baseball Grows • In 1903, the first playoff series between the champion of the NL and the champion of the AL in the first World Series. • The Boston Americans won that series 5 games to 3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. • Boston was led by star pitcher Cy Young who won 511 career games – a MLB record.

15. Professional Baseball Grows • Young is also recognized today through the Cy Young Award which is given to the best pitchers in the AL and NL each year.

16. Baseball Politics • Scandal hit Major League Baseball in 1919 World Series between Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds. • Eight Chicago players conspired with gamblers to bring about the defeat of their own team. • The subsequent so-called Black Sox scandal resulted in public demands for stricter control.

17. Baseball Politics • An Advisory Council was established headed by a commissioner. • The first commissioner was Kenesaw Mountain Landis – who held the position until his death in 1944. • Today, the MLB commissioner is Rob Manfred who has served since 2015.

18. Baseball Politics • The baseball commissioner is elected by the club owners for a 5-year term. • The commissioner has the authority to investigate any action regarded as harmful to the sport of baseball. • Commissioner may also penalize with fines or suspensions the personnel involved.

19. Baseball Politics • Many players have been banned for life – among the more famous is Pete Rose who was banned for gambling. • There have been numerous attempts to unionize baseball. • One of the earliest successes was in 1946 when the American Baseball Guild was established.

20. Baseball Politics • The ABG negotiated with a team of owners for a number of reforms. • Including the establishment of a players’ pension fund that came from revenues from All-Star games and World Series. • Since 1966 players’ rights and benefits have been protected by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

21. Baseball Politics • Brief work stoppages occurred in 1985 and 1990 with few or no games being canceled. • However, on August 12, 1994 the players began what became the longest strike in the history of professional sports. • The main issue was the owners’ plan to impose a salary cap – which limits team’s salaries.

22. Baseball Politics • No settlement was agreed on and the remainder of the season was canceled. • For the first time since 1904 no World Series was played. • Owners fielded teams of replacement players who played exhibition games in spring of 1995.

23. Baseball Politics • Days before the start of the 1995 season a judge ordered an injunction that blocked the owners salary cap. • On April 2, the owners accepted an offer by the players to return ending the 234-day strike. • The 1995 season was shortened to 144-games.

24. Baseball Politics • To this day Major League Baseball has no salary cap leading to lopsided team payrolls around the league. • In 2008 the New York Yankees had a team payroll of $209 million – the Florida Marlins had $21 million. • The NFL, NBA and NHL all have salary caps.

25. Dead Ball Era • What was the dead ball era? – It was a time in baseball before the home run was king. • The dead ball era refers to a period in baseball characterized by extremely low-scoring games. • In fact, it was the lowest-scoring period in major league baseball history.

26. Dead Ball Era • Although baseball historians disagree of the exact dates the general consensus is that it began in about 1903 and continued until about 1919. • For example - 1906 Chicago White Sox won 93 games, took home the American League pennant, and eventually prevailed in the World Series.

27. Dead Ball Era • They did all this while batting just .230, and hitting a mere 7 home runs. • The Cubs won back to back World Series titles in 1907 and 1908 despite hitting just .248 and managing just 32 homers. • The two Chicago teams were more the rule than the exception.

28. Dead Ball Era • In St. Louis, the Cardinals had one of the worst three year offensive runs in baseball history from 1906 until 1908. • During that three year span, the team hit .235, .232 and .223. • They averaged just 15 dingers a year and scored a lowly 2.6 runs per game – no steroids here…

29. Dead Ball Era • There were three main factors contributing to the dead ball era. • The first factor is the ball - The baseball used by both leagues had a rubber ball at its center and was wrapped quite loosely compared to modern baseballs. • Most games were played with one ball – it became worn out.

30. Dead Ball Era • The second factor was the spitball - lubed up the baseball with saliva, vaseline, tobacco juice or any other substance that would make the ball wetter and heavier. • The spit ball could be thrown with the speed of a fastball, but dance and move like a knuckleball.

31. Dead Ball Era • The third factor was popular baseball strategy – most teams played “small ball.” • Batters didn't swing for the fences - they feared striking out above all else. • Solid contact, good base running, sacrifices, hitting behind runners and driving singles and doubles were the key points of the game.

32. Dead Ball Era • The dead-ball era ended suddenly - by 1921, offenses were scoring 40% more runs and hitting four times as many home runs as they did in 1918. • Baseball historians have debated as to why the change occurred – there are a few different theories.

33. Dead Ball Era • The first theory claims that owners replaced the ball with a newer, livelier ball – to boost offense and ticket sales. • The second theory is based on the fact that the spitball was outlawed at this time. • More baseballs were being used per game too because of injury concerns – new balls were not worn out.

34. Dead Ball Era • A fourth theory is that ball park dimensions changed – stadiums became smaller and homeruns did not have to travel as far. • The last theory was based on one man – Babe Ruth. • Ruth’s free-swinging mentality changed the record books and how batters approached hitting.

35. Dead Ball Legends • Christy Mathewson became the darling of the professional baseball world in the early 1900s. • Intelligent, hard-working and clean-living, Mathewson gave baseball a clean image. • He had tremendous poise and a killer out-pitch—his famous “fadeaway” (a screwball).

36. Dead Ball Legends • Mathewson led the New York Giants to new levels of success between 1900 and 1915. • His three shutouts against the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 World Series is a feat of nearly unimaginable scope. • He wrote a book - Pitching in a Pinch (1912) and his frequent newspaper contributions made him very popular.

37. Dead Ball Legends • Ty Cobb was the dominant player during the second half of the dead-ball era and the first southerner to attain superstar status. • Described by historians as a “psychopath on spikes,” and nicknamed “The Georgia Peach”. • Cobb battled everyone, including his own teammates, both on and off the field of play.

38. Dead Ball Legends • Cobb batted over .400 three times during his 24-year career and retired with the highest career batting average of any player (.366) in major-league history. • A betting scandal led to his departure from the game in the late 1920s. • Died at 74 in 1961, only three representatives from organized baseball attended his funeral.

39. Dead Ball Legends • Tips from Ty Cobb: • Leave an inch or more space between your hands allows you to place your hits. • Don’t pull a curve ball from a right-hander – the ball is revolving away from you. • If high fast balls inside bother you – crouch over from the waist to force the pitcher to throw lower. • Never pull a speedy left-hander, and move up in the box and always pull a slower left-hander.

40. Dead Ball Legends • Cobb wasn’t alone during the dead ball era – there were other players who had a dirty image. • John McGraw, Baltimore Orioles impeded base runners by blocking them or pulling on their belts, and maddened umpires and the opposition with his short fuse and sharp tongue.

41. Dead Ball Legends • Jake “Eagle Eye” Beckley used the hidden ball trick - hiding the baseball under a corner of first base and then tagging base runners out. • Ed Walsh used spitball to post a 40-win season and pitched 464 innings. • The spitball is thrown by wetting your fingers so there is minimal contact with the baseball – reduces spin and ball drops dramatically.

42. Dead Ball Legends • Jack Norworth wrote “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in 1908. • Norworth was an actor and wrote the song without ever attending an actual game. • Norworth attended his first game in 1940 – but his lyrics captured the essence of what games were all about.

43. Dead Ball Legends • Cigarettes were sold with a carboard “stiffener” to keep the pack from being crushed. • Most people simply threw these “stiffeners” away when they were out of cigarettes. • Executive tobacco owners began printing pictures and messages on the “stiffeners” to persuade people to buy their cigarettes.

44. Dead Ball Legends • The pictures and names of baseball players became the most popular of the cards. • This eventually led to baseball cards as we know them today – boomed in the 1960s. • Baseball cards are collectables and can be very expensive – a 1909 Honus Wagner card sold for over $2 million.

45. Babe Ruth • George Herman Ruth Jr., was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Md. • He was one of eight children – however only two survived past infancy – George and Mamie. • He had a hard childhood and eventually ended up in a Catholic orphanage.

46. Babe Ruth • A mischievous boy, George latched on to Brother Matthias at the orphanage. • Matthias helped George with growing up and with baseball. • His talent was clear early on – especially as a pitcher for his school baseball team.

47. Babe Ruth • When he was 19-years old, Jack Dunn owner and manager of the Baltimore Orioles signed George to a contract. • When he was introduced to his new team, the other Orioles called him “Jack’s newest babe.” • Thus the nickname stuck – Babe Ruth.

48. Babe Ruth • Ruth played his first full season with the Boston Red Sox in 1915. • He went 18-8 as a pitcher and hit his first four homeruns – The Red Sox won 101 games and the World Series. • He followed up the 1915 season by going 23-12 with 9 shutouts in 1916.

49. Babe Ruth • In 1918, Ruth still was pitching with success – but led the league in home runs too with 11. • In 1919 Ruth pitched less and played outfield more – broke the season record for homers with 29. • This was his last season with the Red Sox.

50. Babe Ruth • In 1920, the Boston Red Sox sold Ruth to the New York Yankees. • The Yankees would go on to win 39 AL Pennants and 26 World Series Titles – the Red Sox did not win a World Series until 2004. • During most of the 20th century this was referred to as “The Curse of the Bambino”.