The History of Baseball Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The History of Baseball - Research Paper Example n 1908, the commission published their final report concluding that Abner Doubleday invented Baseball in the town called Cooperstown, New York in the year 1939 (John Doyle Papers 49). How they came up with such a conclusion is based on the testimonies of Abner Graves, a resident of Cooperstown. Later on, such report has been proven to be a mistake as it was discovered that Doubleday wasn’t in Cooperstown at that year. To add, Graves was convicted of murder and was sent to the asylum for being insane. Alexander Cartwright Alexander Cartwright is another popular name in the history of Baseball. In 1845, Cartwright wrote the rules of a New York baseball team called Knickerbockers. And later on, Shane Foster help revolutionized the Knickerbocker rules into the modern baseball rules of today. In 1953, the Congressed credited the invention of modern baseball to Alexander Cartwright and he was included in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Peterson 8). Although the term may not be fitting, h e is the most deserving to have the title. Alexander Cartwright was also the umpire of the first recorded baseball game in America dated June 19, 1846 in New Jersey. Knickerbocker Baseball Club and New York Baseball Club, 1846 During the year 1845, the Knickerbocker Club of New York City was making use of the Elysian Field in Hoboken, New Jersey. They were playing and practicing here as this is the only place that has soft ground to play on within the area. In 1846, the first recorded U.S. baseball game took place here with the Knickerbocker Club playing against the New York Nine (Seymour 27). The New York Nine won the game. Because of the success of this game, more amateur teams were formed. By the year 1957, the National Association of Baseball Players was formed and 25 amateur teams joined.... This research paper describes the history of baseball, the most favorite American sport. Abner Doubleday is the man believed to be the inventor of baseball. In 1939, everyone thought that Abner Doubleday was behind the sport because of a testimony of another man. However, there was no evidence to prove that he is indeed the man behind baseball. In fact, through all the papers Doubleday has written, he has never mentioned anything about being the proponent of the American sport; he never made the claim. One of the people behind this theory is Albert Spalding. In 1905, Spalding organized the Mills Commission. Members of the commission include Spalding himself, Abraham Mills, Morgan Bulkely, Arthur Gorman, Nick Young, George Wright, Alfred Reach and James Sulivan. And from this list, none of them are historians. The commission was geared towards coming up with a report on who really is the prominent man behind the sport. In 1908, the commission published their final report concluding that Abner Doubleday invented Baseball in the town called Cooperstown, New York in the year 1939. How they came up with such a conclusion is based on the testimonies of Abner Graves, a resident of Cooperstown. The paper concludes that it can take a lot of work before Baseball will gain as much popularity as leagues like the National Basketball Association or the National Football League. The proud history of the sport is the primary reason why it has survived and why baseball fans should be continuously optimistic for the future of baseball.