Baseball is a game for two teams of nine players, that was invented by Alexander Cartwright in the early 1800’s.  This game lasts through nine innings of 6 outs, three for each team.  It involves hitting a baseball with a bat after it has been pitched.  You score points by running around four bases without getting out.

 Late History (1800- 1860)
There were many names for baseball in the beginning.   American soldiers called it “Base”.  The early Irish, Scottish and German settlers called it “Base Ball”.  In Princeton they called it “Baste Ball”.  Right before the Civil War, in the 1860’s, most people started calling it “Towne Ball”.  Soldiers returning from the Civil War spread the game to almost every community.

Baseball was developed in the early 1800’s.  As baseball grew in popularity it became more organized.  The first organization was a New York team called the Knickerbockers.  The Knickerbockers had strict rules about who could play including no common laborers, no poor immigrants, and definitely no blacks.  American  society was more openly racist then.   

There were two different styles of baseball, Massachusetts and New York style.  Massachusetts style included having bases in a diamond, and you got out by being “pegged” (or hit with the ball).  New York style included having bases in a square, and you got out by a force, which is a type of out made by the fielder touching the base before the runner got there, or by tagging the runner.  The New York style eventually won out and added some additional rules: no gloves, an umpire at third base line, pitcher 45 ft. from the home plate, game ended at 21 runs, bases 90 ft. apart, and outs from caught fly balls or on one bounce.               
 
Earlier History (1860- 1900’s)
Baseball became very popular among black people after Civil War.  Blacks would often play with other blacks, but popularity among whites was growing fast too.  Baseball changed rules for fans as it became the most popular sport.  The Elite played just for money. 

Racism
Blacks couldn’t play in very many leagues until late ’40, except in the NABBP (National Association of Baseball Players).  They could not play in any New York City clubs.  They played only with other blacks in what was called the Negro Leagues.  Black Baseball was the largest black-run business in the U.S. at that time.  Jackie Robinson was one of the most important people in black baseball.  He was born in 1919 and became the first pro black player to enter the (previously all white) major leagues in 1947.  He played for 10 seasons with the Dodgers and won six pennants.  Robinson was MVP in 1949 having a batting average of .342 with 37 steals and 124 runs.

Equipment
Cleats are spikes so players don’t slip.  Mitts or gloves can be leather or plastic, but leather is longer lasting.  They break in with oil. The ball should be sphere made by yarn wound around a small core of cork, rubber or like material, covered with two stripes of white horsehide or cowhide, very tightly stitched together. It weighs between five and 5 1/4 ounces and measure between nine and 9 1/4 inches in circumference.  The bat must be a smooth, round stick no more than 2 3/4 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat must be one piece of solid wood.  The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material to improve the grip. 




Fanatics
Fans have changed baseball very much.  Team Management has had promotional giveaways, Mascots, and added other entertainment.  They let fans keep foul balls.  Fans basically pay for the sport.  Fans are baseball fanatics.
   
Major League Baseball Today
There are two different major leagues- American and National.  The teams in the Nationals include:
San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamond Backs, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, and Houston Astros.

The American Leagues include:
Seattle Mariners, OaklandAthletics, Anaheim Angels, Minneapolis Twins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Toroto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays


Problems in Baseball Today

Salaries
There are huge problems facing baseball today.  A few of those are salaries, steroids and drugs. The salaries are getting much too high to keep Baseball fun and likable.  An average major league player in 2001 made $2,500,000.  If salaries don’t start to decrease it will cost more money to attend a game and more pressure to win will consume baseball players causing them to do things like take steroids.

Drug Use in Baseball
Drugs and steroids are another big problem facing baseball today.  Most pros taking drugs like steroids do so because of pressure to win.  Players including Mark McGwire took a drug nicknamed “andro” which was not illegal when McGwire was using it.  All steroids and performance enhancing drugs are illegal in baseball today.

Who I Interviewed And What I Learned Larry Parsons, Superintendent of Selah School District I interviewed the superintendent of Selah schools.  He played baseball from age six till age about 30.  He became interested in baseball because he was crippled as a child and was told he was going to die.  He wanted to prove them wrong so he played every sport he could, including baseball.  He ended up being good at baseball and it was the first thing he could play at age six.  He enjoyed the team spirit and things like that, he said, ”I am going to tell you the truth about what I really enjoyed, winning.”  The thing that means the most to him about baseball history was the New York Yankees.  He actually had a model of Yankee stadium.  He said” It was almost a shrine.  I knew all the Yankee players of the 50s.  Mickey Mantel was my hero.”  (He has a baseball signed by Mickey Mantel on his desk at work.) “There was a time I knew every stat and every player on the Yankees.   One of my goals in life was to go to Yankee stadium, of course I wanted to play there and never did.  I got the chance to go to a game there several years ago and it was wonderful.”  Later he said ’’ I love baseball.  At one time, I had 13 Mickey Mantel cards, five of his rookie season.  Those are selling for $8,000 now.  I threw away about 2,500 baseball cards when I found girls and thought they weren’t cool anymore.  I threw away enough baseball cards to retire on, if I’d just kept them, so I’m not very smart.” Dr. Parsons says he thinks baseball is a microcosm of the world and he still is affected when he thinks about Jackie Robinson breaking into baseball and the guys who stood up for him when it was not even acceptable to do so.  He says players today get publicized for all the stupid things they do such as going out and getting drunk and that didn’t used to happen.  Mickey Mantle was his hero, but later on he found out he was in some ways a jerk.  When he was his hero he did not know about how he took care of his body.  Someone that was really important to him was a man named Dave Gray.  He was from Larry’s hometown and played for the Giants.  He remembered watching him play and then later he taught at his school.  He had more influence on Dr. Parsons than any other player.  He even named one of his sons after him.   He was a mentor and friend and a teacher to him and didn’t cut him any slack.  He thinks money is one of the main destroyers of baseball.  It is not cool that a man that hits baseballs make more then a surgeon who just saved a little girl’s life. That makes him sad.  It is not right. He thinks the thing that is new is better athletes.  They have pressure on them to win, causing steroid use.  “It’s money, causing evil things to happen.”  He predicts the future of baseball won’t change.  The finances will escalate and the game will grow “un-fun.”  The salvation for baseball is television so the people can watch. He played college ball.  He played semi-pro ball with several different leagues.  He had a chance to play for the Cleveland Indians but didn’t sign with them because he had just gotten married and decided he didn’t want to be away from his wife. He played semi pro ball about five or six years out of college, being 28 or 30 when he quit playing. One of the nice things about baseball is it doesn’t require a lot of deep thought to watch the game.  The game itself is very complicated.  It requires a lot of thinking.  Coaching baseball (I was a high school baseball coach when I was younger) requires a lot of thinking.  It’s a thinking man’s game.  But as a spectator you don’t have to be watching every second.  There’s a lot of down time so families could talk to each other and have a good time in the stands and then watch, have a good time in the stands and then watch.  It was a leisurely way to spend a few hours.  There’s a lot of strategy involved in baseball, very complicated, but it looks easy.  You throw the ball, you hit the ball and you run.  It doesn’t look like there’s much to it.  In those moments when something spectacular happens it takes my breath away.  Even now it takes my breath away to watch a guy hit a baseball way out of the park or see a guy make a catch that’s just amazing.  It’s said that hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in all of sports.  You have something like two tenths of a second to make up your mind to hit the ball or not.  So I have great respect for people who do difficult things. I think the game is fun to watch.   Young folks now are used to fast pace and constant stimulation, so baseball doesn’t have the same allure and isn’t as much fun for them to watch.  We didn’t even have TV when I was growing up, and when we did, we had three TV channels to choose from.  Baseball might be a turn-off for kids today, because they might think it’s boring. I don’t think it’s the same today as it once was.”

Bibliography Ashe Jr., Arthur R.  A Hard Road To Glory.  New York, NY.  Amistad Press Inc.  1988. Pp.68-71 “Baseball”. Encarta. December 1, 2005. Encarta Research Library. “History of Baseball”. Wikipedia. January 4, 2006. En. Wikipedia. En. Wikipedia.org. January, Brendan.  A Baseball All-Star.  Chicago,  Illinois.  Heineman Library, 2005.   Kelly, James.  Baseball.  New York.  Dorling Kindersly.  2000 Sullivan, George. All About Baseball. New York. G. P. Putman’s Sons, 1989. Pp. 92- 107

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