Research Review

In my review of my classmates' research I learned about the Black Sox Scandal, the development of architecture, and the importance of electricity in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Baseball in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Before the late 19th Century, people in America spent so much time working that there was not much time for them to spend time doing leisurely activities. But in the late 19th Century, people started working less, so people had to find things to do in their spare time.
 
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"Among the responses to the search for public forms of leisure was the rise of organized spectator sports, and especially baseball" (Brinkley 507). Baseball was a way for Americans to enjoy themselves and be healthy and have fun doing it. "A game much like base ball known as "rounders" and derived from cricket, had enjoyed limited popularity in Great Britain in the early nineteenth century."

However, they are reports of people playing a form of baseball as early as the expedition of Lewis and Clark. "Revolutionary War soldiers played ball at Valley Forge. Slave children played in the South, sometimes using a tree limb for a bat and a walnut wrapped in rags for a ball. On their way from crossing the continent, Meriweather Lewis and William Clark tried to teach the Nez Percé Indians to play the “game of base””(Ward and Burns 3). 


When people talk about who actually invented the game of baseball, there is much confusion and misunderstanding. Most people think that Abner Doubleday invented it, but that is not accurate. "Abner Doubleday supposedly "invented" baseball. (Doubleday, in fact, had little to do with the creation of baseball and actually cared little for sports. Arthur Cartwright, a member of a New York City baseball club in the 1840s, defined many of the rules and features of the game as we know today") (Brinkley 507). 


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At the end of Civil War, the interest in baseball had increased greatly. There were more than 200 amateur teams, semiprofessional teams, or clubs. A large number of these teams agreed to join a national association. The first salaried team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings. "Other cities soon fielded professional teams, and in 1876, at the urging of Albert Spalding, they banded together in the National League." The American league was also formed and in 1903 the two leagues played in the first World Series. The Boston Red Sox from the American League beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were from the National League. 

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"By then, baseball had become an important business and a great national preoccupation (at least among men), attracting paying crowds in the thousands. Today, there are millions of fans worldwide and there are currently 30 teams in the MLB, which the highest level of play in America. 

Overall, I had an enjoyable experience doing this research topic. I discovered many new things about baseball that I previously did not know, like the fact that Abner Doubleday was not the creator of baseball. Baseball was also a great way for Americans to spend their free time. Baseball was also a boost for the economy because so many people came and paid to watch games. 

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Baseball in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

So far in my research, I have found that people have been playing the game of baseball since the Revolutionary War at Pigeon Forge. Some early names for baseball included

Old cat
Goal ball
Town ball
Barn ball
String ball
Stick ball
Soak ball