The untold origin story of baseball, a close cousin of cricket
Cricket, played by limited countries, is one of the most popular games in the world, especially in India. What other bat and ball games do you know about off the top of your head? Is it baseball? Well, you read our minds! This sport that is common in North America, the Caribbean and Japan is played between two teams of nine players a side, each taking turn batting and fielding, exactly like in cricket. In this sport, a player of the batting side uses a baseball bat to strike a ball served by the fielding team for scoring a run. The fielding side, on the other hand, strives to stop the ball. There are usually nine innings, at the end of which the highest scorer is the winner. Today, let’s unravel the origin story of baseball, USA’s national game. Turns out, there are many theories as to how and where baseball was born. However, two theories take precedence over the rest. Read on to know more.
The English origin theory
One theory suggests that baseball was indeed born In England in the early 18th century, and was a direct inspiration of the Anglo-Irish game rounders, a similar bat and ball game born in medieval times. This was, in turn, inspired by stoolball (tut-ball), often regarded as the antecedent of cricket. Nevertheless, the first record of baseball being played can be found in a 1740s British publication called A Little Pretty Pocket-Book penned by John Newbury considered as the Father of Children’s Literature in England. It mentioned the game of ‘bass-ball’ that was regularly played in Surrey and was a favourite of the then Prince of Wales. English immigrants to Canada are believed to have carried the game along with them.
Baseball may have begun on American soil
Now extremely popular in the USA, baseball, as we mentioned above, has its roots in England. But Americans refuse to accept it and have their own set of theories. According to one school of thought, it was the brainchild of the American Civil War hero, Union Major General of the US Army, Abner Doubleday. He had introduced it as a national pastime in a conflict-struck USA. The story goes like this: One day, when Doubleday was visiting a school in Colorado during the Sports Day as the chief guest, he invented a new bat and ball game, standing right there on the field. And thus, baseball became an American tradition. Maybe that’s why, Doubleday is often regarded as the Father of American Baseball.
However, experts suggest that long before Doubleday introduced the game, baseball was played in parts of USA such as in Philadelphia, Massachusetts and most importantly New York. Each had its own unique version. However, it was the New York version that’s followed globally till date. It features a foul territory that ensures that players remained on the base path while running. But why has this version surpassed the other versions? Probably because New York had both money to fund professional league matches as well as connections to keep it going. In fact, the first official record of professional baseball played in the USA was in 1845 by the New York Knickbockers, best recognised as Knicks today. Fast forward to 1857, the National Association of Baseball Players was established that in turn gave baseball its long-due recognition as the USA’s national game.