Essay on Baseball

The MLB didn’t start until 1876 with the National league and then they brought in the American league in 1901. The first World Series was held in 1903 with the Boston Americans beating the Pittsburg pirates 5-3. Baseball hasn’t always been glorified as it was though. It experienced rough times in the 1940’s when African Americans weren’t allowed to play in the major league but thanks to Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, they eliminated the racial discrimination in baseball and outside the baseball world. Baseball has also experienced rough times during the WWII and Vietnam era. During the time of war, players would go and serve in the military and baseball would have to replace them with less talented players. But Upon return, baseball returned to its once prestige self.

The game of baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday, in 1839- 177 years ago from today. Baseball has been, and is still today, known as America’s favorite pastime; additionally, due to its extensive history and partaking it monumental events, it can as well serve as a great topic to use in a story or poem. Poet Dale Ritterbusch, uses the game of baseball along with metaphors in his poem as a vehicle to write about a more substantial subject in poetry, the Vietnam War. His poem, “Behind the Plate”, can be simply over-looked to one as just a poem about an overweight catcher; nonetheless, when closely examined, it has a deeper meaning. Authors Michael Cocchiarale and Scott Emmert, both agree with the statement that baseball is a great outlet for further analysis of a more important subject: “Writers have seen sports, particularly baseball, as a useful vehicle for cultural and epistemological analysis” (Cocchiarale).

Of the two key concepts underlying the emergence of the American nation, one has prevailed since historical times, the patriotism and national identity ideals, and the other has to some extent, disappeared since historical times, the extreme discrimination and social intolerability. The use of baseball to establish a national spirit and identity in the form of patriotism still exists in the contemporary sport of

Baseball has been an important part of the entertainment industry from the 1870s through 1903 and up until today. “Baseball has been dear to America because, superficially, it has been guided by the principles of competition; a set of values that we confidently believe guides the individual exercise of personal freedom along lines of self-interest to the benefit of the greater

In the 1942-1945, the United States was involved in conflict again, this time World War II. This created a dilemma for Baseball which was at its height in popularity, young ball players were drafted and sent off to war forcing Major League Baseball teams to seek alternative means of entertainment. During this period professional ownership got involved creating Little League Baseball, Pony League baseball, and the College Baseball World Series. This was a large undertaking all done in an effort to satisfy the country’s need to have its National Pastime played. The greatest display of the United States love for this game was the creation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, made famous in the movie League of their Own. (Lesko, J. 2005)

As much as I love baseball (and I really love baseball), I did not love Moe Berg’s essay Pitchers and Catchers. He added a level of technicality to a game that I have always thought of as pure in its simplicity. It’s a game so simple that even a couple of children can get together to play in a field on a summer afternoon. It doesn’t require structure or organization,

Baseball began in the 1800’s and in the areas of New York, Philadelphia, and Massachusetts. Each area had their own version of the game. But the New York style won, it wasn’t because of how the game was better. It was because it made sense(NPR). In 1845 the game began to start up so, Alexander Joy created the rules for the game(PBS). Now today we play the game based off of the original rules. There is nine players on the field and the whole point of the game is to get the most home runs and to win the game(Encyclopedia). And now today we have little league teams. Which is the game of baseball, but for youth(Little League). And some of the most common Baseball heroes in our time is Biggio, Craig from 2015 and Cox, Bobby from 2014(Hall of

Amongst other sports, baseball is a sport that has been known to evoke nostalgic feelings from Americans. It is truly an American game that many played when they were little children. It has been named many fondling names like “the national pastime”, and “America’s democratic game. Its popularity also comes from the fact that it does not discriminate players. People of above average height and weight can play. Amateurs played an informal version of baseball dating back to 18th century. Most people accredited Abner Doubleday with inventing baseball but Alexander Cartwright is known as the “father of baseball” due to establishing the rules as well as the layout of the field. The love of the game started during the Civil War which spread this

Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson, the list goes on and on; these are some of the people whose hard work and dedication made baseball “America’s national pastime.” Back in their day, the game had pageantry; it was more than just a nine-inning game, it was an entire day like no other. But alongside everyone’s interests, times have changed; the new has arrived and the old, well, is old. It turns out, all those ball player’s hard work might not have left that long of a lasting impression after all.

Mary McGrory, an American journalist, writes, “Baseball is what we were, and football is what we have become”(“Brainy Quotes”). Baseball is out and football is in. Only 27% of kids from ages 9-13 play baseball in the world today. There is no longer “Take me out to the ball game,” but let me watch the game on my TV. Baseball as a national pastime has experienced a decline in popularity because of the increase of popularity of football, length of the season and cost of a game, and length of plays and the game itself.

baseball helped people be relaxed, happy, and at ease. After the bombing, some players from the

Baseball is an American icon. It is the Statue of Liberty, the bald eagle, ‘In God We Trust,’ Mount Rushmore, ice cream, apple pie, hot dogs, and rally monkeys. BASEBALL IS AMERICA.” At one time baseball held the hearts and captivated the minds of the majority of the United States of America with its luster and almost magical exuberance. It exerted this on minds of young children and all the way up to old men and women in America. Americans fell in love with the scent of ballpark hotdogs and the spectacle of beautiful ballparks to the crisp breeze of the air filled with thousands of voices belting “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” while eating a big box of Cracker Jacks. Something about the pure joy it brought upon the hearts of Americans

On March 15, 2005, in San Diego, California, I was excited but curious as to what the sport of baseball would be like. I jumped into our grey Honda Odyssey, seating myself in my middle-aged car seat, pretty much a booster seat. I didn’t know what to bring or what to be prepared for. The only thing in the back of the van was a slightly beat-up tee ball bat my parents got me a couple years ago. It was from a second cousin of mine whom constantly handed sports equipment down to me.

The history of baseball is a long and rich one, and no one is truly sure where it originated. Baseball may have actually been created in America yet it got its roots from European sports such as Cricket. Although cricket is one of the earlier versions of baseball when compared these two are completely different sports with different rules, advantages and disadvantages. Games resembling baseball had been played in the Americas as early as the 1700’s. At one point it was widely believed that a man named Abner Doubleday invented the game in 1839, and then went onto become a civil war hero, this went as far as the MLB putting the Hall of fame in Doubleday’s hometown of Cooperstown New York, but later it was found out that this was completely false, and was only based on the claims of one man.

Before you get to hear the amazing stories, I will give you a background of the game that is called baseball. In the World Wars the soldiers were bored when they were not battling. They would get together in a grassy patch and they would use a decent sized rock and a stick. They would play just like baseball today, except some things. Now you don’t throw a baseball at the hitter to get them out, but back then that is what they did, they would have a few minor changes like how to play the game. Now it is developed fully and they have fixed the rules. The league didn’t become a league until the year 1846. In 1846 the first major league baseball game was played featuring the Cincinnati Red Stockings. At that time African americans could not play they were still being segregated, they were being cursed at and more horrible things. One man changed the game of baseball forever and his name is Jackie Robinson. He was the first black to play professional baseball, and it took a long time for that to happen because everybody in the league was rejecting him. One