With baseball playoffs now going on in both the National and American leagues, the fall season is heading toward its peak—the World Series.
October, perhaps, is by far the most exciting time for die-hard baseball fans all across the country.
Sometimes described as ‘America’s Pastime,’ the sport, without question, offers some of the most spectacular and thrilling performances during the final weeks of the season.
Here is just a taste of the rich tradition the activity holds for fans of all ages.
Allegedly, the game of baseball was invented by one Abner Doubleday, who is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown as the father of baseball.
There is doubt in some circles, however, that Abner ever really played the game.
Baseball probably was never invented at all, but rather evolved from the English games of cricket and rounders, with the help of American variations like one old cat, two old cat, three old cat and town ball.
In the early days of the game, any number of players could play on fields of any size, and rules were variable enough to be argument provoking.
In 1845, Alexander J. Cartwright imposed a degree of order by drawing up game rules for his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club.
He also constructed a diamond 90-feet square, and put the batter at home plate rather than at a distance from it, as was the custom then.
In addition, Cartwright ended the dangerous practice known as “plugging,” which meant hitting a baserunner with a thrown ball to put him out.
Deadly 4-foot-high stakes or poles marking the bases had been replaced earlier with sandbags. In 1841, they were staked down to frustrate crafty basemen who kicked them away from runners.
Early baseballs, meanwhile, varied enormously. There were no rules about how baseballs were made, so they differed in content, size, and bounce.
Each team brought its own ball, and the losing team handed theirs over to the winners. In 1909 the cork-centered ball was put in play, to be followed in 1920 by what was called the “lively” ball.
The use of Australian yarn, which was stronger than American yarn, made the ball harder and enabled it to travel farther. In the year it was introduced, Babe Ruth hit 54 homeruns.
The cry “kill the umpire” may have evolved when umpires changed from affable employees to autocratic arbiters.
Early in the game’s history, a referee and two umpires officiated. Each team in a particular game chose one umpire, who tended to be loyal to the team that picked him.
The referee, therefore, spent a lot of time settling arguments between umpires over close plays. Buy 1882 there was but a single umpire, and only team captains were permitted to talk to him.
This was the beginning of modern umpiring, since the new rules stated that the umpire would use his own judgement in calling plays. Earlier judges had been more democratic, often consulting players and even spectators before rendering their decisions.
The first professional baseball player was a fellow by the name of Al Reach. In 1864 he accepted a monied offer to leave the Brooklyn Antlantics and join the Philadelphia Athletics. Others followed, and by 1869 the captain and shortstop of the Cincinnati Red Stockings was earning $1,400 a season.
Players were still playing for modest sums in 1946; that year players demanded, and got, a minimum salary of $5,000 per year. Some players now make more than that in a single game.
Baseball is probably more popular in Japan than it is in the United States. In Cuba, it is more passion than pastime, with more than 5 percent of the population taking part in some organized form of baseball.
The fastest pitch recorded electronically up until the mid-1950s was thrown by Hall of Famer Bob Feller, the Cleveland fireballer, who had one of his pitches clocked at 98.6 miles per hour.
Fast indeed, but some years earlier, Mark Koenig, a mere second baseman for the New York Yankees, hurled a pitch through the same electronic measuring device—at a speed of 127 miles per hour.
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Top o’ the morning!