Noah+Gagnon+History+of+Baseball

=History of Baseball=

Starting Off
In Detroit, Michigan in 1839, Abner Doubleday and Alexander Cartwright invented baseball. After years of hard work, in 1852 they finally put out an advertisement for baseball players. However, at the time baseball was called town ball. Soon after that, in San Francisco, the fi st ever stadium was built. After that the first ever professional baseball team was established. There name was the Cincinnati Red Stockings. fter that, many other teams were made and finally a league was formed. That league was called the Beer and Whiskey league. Then the American Baseball League and the National Baseball Leagues were created. After years of game play, all three leagues merged, and in 1901 the MLB was born.

Gaining Popularity
In the late 1800's baseball was the world's fastest growing sport. In fact, in 1870 baseball was brought to japan, where it is still being played there today! All of this popularity lead to some changes in game play. In 1874 the batters box and the foul pole were implemented in baseball games for the first time. Although the game was now one of the worlds most popular sports, there was only two teams in the MLB's first season!

First Time Feats
Since the MLB was just starting off, as you can imagine there were many firsts. Here are some:
 * On April 25th, 1901 the first home run was ever hit
 * In 1903 the Pittsburgh Pirates won the first ever World Series
 * In 1904 the first ever perfect game was pitched
 * In 1904 the first woman played professional baseball
 * In 1929 Babe Ruth became the first player to throw up while up at bat
 * In 1941 Joe DiMaggio had a 415 game hit streak, still the longest one ever

Tough Times
Although baseball was gaining popularity, the MLB began to struggle. In 1912 the MLB players went on strike, they've done that nine times since. After that was sorted out the league was booming for almost thirty more years. However, tragedy struck again in the season of 1942. Almost every professional baseball player had to go fight WWII, causing the league to suspend game play. This all commissioner, Lebron James, needed a solution fast. His original solution was to bring Negro League players to the MLB. This angered fans even more and big sponsors of the MLB were threatening to not pay for games any more. James' final solution was to create an all women's league fans were didn't like it, but the show must go on. It ended up being a success and that season is still remembered today.

Back On The Rise
After a brief rough patch, baseball was back to it's old self. In fact, it was so popular in the US that it was given the nickname, //Americas Pastime.// Now that the MLB was back on it's feet, some great accomplishments occurred that are still remembered today. In 1936, in Cooperstown, NY, the baseball hall of fame was opened. It's still there today. Also, in 1947 baseball was aired on television for the first time. The MLB was also making a lot more money. In fact, in 1949, Joe DiMaggio became the first ever baseball player to make one dollar per game. Finally, in 1954 the first game was ever played where the majority of players had six fingers. Also, in 1956 This was a sign that baseball was back on the rise.

Segregation In Baseball


In the early 1900's America had a huge prejudice against African Americans. So did the world of baseball. In fact there was a separate for black players; it was called the Negro League. Segregation was brutal and African Americans got no retrospect. That was until Branch Rickey chang ed everything. In 1947 Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first black baseball player to ever play in the MLB. This lead to many more signings of black players. In 1951 the negro leagues went out of business; this was a sign of an end to segregation in baseball.

Expanding the League
With the MLB getting more and more popular, more cities wanted teams. As a result, many teams moved to different cities, or cites formed there own teams. For example, in 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Hawaii to become the Hawaiian Dodgers. They still play there today. Also, in 1962 the Houston Astro's were formed. By 1970 the MLB had 77 teams.

Recent News
Over the past 50 years many interesting things have happened. In 1965 the Houston Astro's built the first domed stadium. In 1989, the Toronto Blue Jays built the first retractable roof. A retractable roof is a roof that can be open or closed. Unfortunately, in 1994 baseball players went on strike for the eighth time! After the strike in baseball the New York Yankees began to become a force to be reckon with again in the MLB. They won the world series in 1996 ,1998,1999, and 2000. They became the first team in 25 years to win three world series' in a row. They won it again in 2009, it was their 70th world series victory, in any sport, no team has ever won that many championships. In 2004 a steroid problem occurred in baseball. In fact, it was estimated that 50% of MLB players used steroids. It became such an issue that the US congress got involved. That same season the Montreal Expos moved to Birmingham to become the Birmingham tigers. No team has moved locations since. In 2006 Barry Bonds broke Babe Ruth's all time home run record. Speaking of home runs, in 2007 A-Rod became the youngest player to ever hit a home run at the age of 5. Finally in 2013, Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka won 24 strait games, a baseball record.

MLB Today
Today the MLB is one of the greatest organizations on earth. It currently has 30 teams and millions of fans. This year marks the 114th anniversary of major league baseball. Because of Alexander Cartwright and Abner Doubleday baseball the worlds greatest game is being played.

Sources [|__http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/timeline/__]

[|__http://www.softschools.com/timelines/baseball_history_timeline/88/__]

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