Baseball, a sport which is often associated with the United States. The history of baseball says that a game of base-ball was first played in England, of course. But, by the 1900s, baseball was already beyond huge in the United States. Everyone was playing it. To bring it closer to our readers, it was as huge as soccer is today, where now, we not only have multiple fanbases, but also sports bets and offers like the apuestas bet365 copa mundial. But how did this come to happen? How does a sport take over a nation so quickly, that it becomes one of the most popular sports in the country, where the earliest collecting cards are worth over a million dollars? Here is how baseball took the US by storm.
Early History in the United States
Even as early as 1791, when baseball was forbidden in the vicinity of the town meeting house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. But, these are just mentions. The game of baseball was actually played during the Civil War and after the civil war. The game was mostly played in New York. The first amateur organization, or club, were the New York Knickerbockers. The club was founded in 1845 and played as an amateur team for as long as it existed. It is also notable that the club was probably the first one which played under modern rules. Historians have never actually agreed and many people have been credited with inventing baseball, while as with most sports, you cannot really trace the sport to a single person.
Civil War Baseball Growth
There is a reason as to why the Civil War helped baseball grow, especially in New York. The Civil War pushed sports forwards, aiding baseball to become what it is today. During the 1860s, New York saw a huge growth of baseball clubs, including the formation of the first local, and then national association, or rather, governing body, the National Association of Base Ball Players or NABBP.
The NABBP was established in 1857 and was the first organization to create a championship. 10 years later, the NABBP had 400 clubs as members.
Professional Growth
Nothing screams growth like a professional association. That is why, in 1871, the National Professional Association of Base Ball Players was founded. The NAPBBP pulled clubs from the NABBP and started the National League in 1876, which used to be called the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs.
In 1903, the MLB was formed, and two years prior, the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or shortly, the American League.
Ever since the formation of the MLB, everything changed for baseball in the United States. It became one of the most popular sports. It had lots of turmoil and change, but all of it for the better, to become a sport which every US fan is proud of following. It was a rocky road and it took over 150 years, but it was worth it.
