Introduction: For the past three centuries, researchers have searched for the origins of baseball with limited success. The mystery behind the creation of baseball is still unknown today, but historians have found clues that date back centuries. Baseball is said to derive from "a series of early games popular in the British Isles" along with other bat and ball games, primarily cricket and rounders. These early games were like cricket, where a batsman defends a target with a bat while trying to score runs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Context: An 1801 English writer named Joseph Strutt claimed that baseball derived from an 11th-century game called stool. Stoolball was a combination of modern cricket and baseball, where a ball is bowled and the batsman must hit it to score runs, all while protecting a stool. By the early 18th century “a game called baseball had developed in England,” although it is unclear whether it is comparable to modern baseball. During this time, however, modern forms of baseball became popular. In 1845, a man named Alexander Cartwright published the first written rules of baseball for his "baseball club called the Knickerbockers" in Manhattan, New York. The 20 rules established by Cartwright were known as the "Knickerbocker Rules", which were revised over the years. As baseball continued to grow, there was debate as to whether baseball originated from the "English game of rounders" or an American one. In 1905, Henry Chadwick from Great Britain and Albert Spalding had a dispute and decided to create a committee with Abraham G. Mills as its head. Mills, former president of the National League, concluded that a deceased man he once knew named Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York (1839). This conclusion was made “almost exclusively on the testimony of 71-year-old Abner Grave,” who claimed to have seen Doubleday draw a baseball field on the dirt. Abner Doubleday was a general in the Union Army during the Civil War and had almost nothing to do with baseball. However, the "Mills Commission" had exaggerated Graves' meeting with Doubleday, leading many people to believe that Abner Doubleday was the inventor of baseball. Although many historians today have debunked this myth, Doubleday was honored for many years, even building the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Thesis Statement: Although the origins of baseball remain a mystery to this day, baseball historians such as David Block believe that baseball was an "evolutionary game that emerged without a single father." As previously stated, Cartwright of the Knickerbockers laid the foundation of modern baseball in 1845. In 1857, a New York organization called the National Association of Baseball Players or NABBP used Cartwright's rules and popularized them. Topic Sentence: The Civil War also greatly spread baseball by uniting troops from across the country. NABBP quickly became a competitive sport, and in 1869 the first all-professional team, The Cincinnati Red Stockings, was created. They continued to be unstoppable, which created conflict between amateur teams and future professional teams. This led to the birth of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players (NA). Topic Sentence: However, without structural leadership, the NA fell short and was replaced by the National League (NL) financed and governed by businessmen such as William Hulbert. The NL had only six major professional teams of the time, and enforcing punishments on players who did not follow the rules made it themost important and largest baseball league of the time. Many other leagues arose but failed to achieve the NL's major status. Topic Sentence: In 1894 the Cincinnati Reds helped finance a minor league known as the Western League. The Western League renamed itself the American League (AL) and in 1901 declared itself a major league rivaling the NL. The two leagues accepted each other and played the first world series together. Although they remained separate organizations, they remained respectful of each other and played together in World Series and All-Star Games. The two leagues continued to expand and acquire more teams, and in 1969, the League Championship Series was added between the Division Series and the World Series to combat the addition of extra teams. Topic Sentence: In 1973, the American League added a new rule called the designated hitter rule, which allowed a tenth player to bat for pitchers. Evidence and Citations: This has attracted much controversy, as proponents argue that this allowed pitchers to not worry about batting while others argued that this departed from the traditions of the game and removed the versatility of the players. The National League had not adopted the rule and only allowed it in hometown games when facing American League teams. Topic Sentence: In 1997, interleague games between the two Major League teams were put into play during the regular season and are still played today. This also sparked a lot of controversy as many people saw the All-Star Games and World Series as a special time to see American League and National League teams play together. Although baseball has been very successful in the United States, it has been played internationally by many countries around the world. One of the most famous countries for playing baseball is Cuba, where it still dominates internationally today. Cuba had Latin America's first baseball league and baseball was “…a part of the Cuban national identity.” Although professional baseball had been abolished in 1959 in Cuba, the amateur leagues were still strong and allowed them to dominate the Baseball World Cup, winning 25 times. Other international leagues in countries like South Korea, Venezuela and Colombia have all shown the widespread interest in baseball globally and the competition that comes with it. Concluding paragraph: The origins of baseball and the true inventor have yet to be discovered, as researchers continue to search for clues. Over the past three centuries, baseball has become an internationally played sport that continues to evolve from what it once was. It remains one of America's favorite pastimes and a way to personally benefit by getting active and having fun. References1. “BR Bullpen.” BR Bullpen, May 14, 2016.2. “BR Bullpen.” BR Bullpen, June 20, 2015.3. David_Blocco. Miklich, E. “Evolution of 19th Century Baseball Rules.” History of baseball: 19th century baseball: the rules..4. Miklich, E. "The Myth of Abner's Double Day." History of Baseball: 19th Century Baseball: The Game: The Myth of Double Day: Who Invented Baseball?.5. Worthington, Daryl. “The Double Day Myth Started by the Abraham Mills Commission.” New History, 29 December 2016.6. “American League”. American League - New World Encyclopedia, March 11, 2016.7. American_League. “Athletic Scholarships.” The history of baseball. The ball game and where it all began.8. “Athletic Scholarships.” The history of baseball. The ball game and where it all began.9. “BR Bullpen.” BR Bullpen,.“BR Bullpen”. BR Bullpen,. Please note: this is just an example. Get a customized document from our writers now.