What are the origins of baseball?

Unlike other sports, there is no precise answer to the date and time baseball was first played. Historians have found references to early forms of baseball as early as the 1820's. The Baseball Hall of Fame refers to this era as "early baseball." For many years, people believed a man named Abner Doubleday was recognized as the creator of the actual rules for baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York. Not long ago, however, historians and the Hall deprived him of this honor after extensive examination of the facts. A bank teller named Alexander Cartwright founded the New York Knickerbockers, the first organized baseball team, in 1842. A few years later, Cartwright created the basic rules that we know for baseball today (three strikes per out/three outs per half-inning). ... more

Baseball traces its roots to a variety of bat-and-ball games, including rounders and cricket. It wasn't until the 1840's in America that a man named Alexander Cartwright actually put the rules to paper. Even though baseball existed prior to that point, he is often considered to be the father of baseball. ... more

Baseball traces its roots to a variety of bat-and-ball games, including rounders and cricket. It wasn’t until the 1840’s in America that a man named Alexander Cartwright actually put the rules to paper. Even though baseball existed prior to that point, he is often considered to be the father of baseball. ... more