Origins. The question of the origins of baseball has been the subject of debate and controversy for more than a century. Baseball and the other modern bat, ball and running games, cricket and rounders, were developed from earlier folk games in England. Early forms of baseball had a number of names, including "Base Ball", "Goal Ball", "Round Ball", "Fletch-catch", "stool ball", and, simply, "Base". In at least one version of the game, teams pitched to themselves, runners went around the bases in the opposite direction of today's game, and players could be put out by being hit with the ball. Then as now, a batter was called out after three strikes. Folk games in England[edit] A number of early folk games in England had characteristics that can be seen in modern baseball (as well as in cricket and rounders).
Many of these early games involved a ball that was thrown at a target while an opposing player defended the target by attempting to hit the ball away. Stoolball[edit] Dog and cat[edit] MLB. Reference. Baseball Page. History. A 2005 vintage base ball game, played by 1886 rules. Vintage games are live contests that seek to portray the authenticity of the early game. (The term "reenactment" is a common misnomer; games are contested and not meant to recreate a specific historical event.) The history of baseball in the United States can be traced to the 18th century, when amateurs played a baseball-like game by their own informal rules using improvised equipment.
The popularity of the sport inspired the semipro national baseball clubs in the 1860s. Early history[edit] The earliest known mention of baseball in the United States was a 1791 Pittsfield, Massachusetts, ordinance banning the playing of the game within 80 yards (73 m) of the town meeting house.[1] In 1903, the British sportswriter Henry Chadwick published an article speculating that baseball derived from a British game called rounders, which Chadwick had played as a boy in England. Growth[edit] Professionalism[edit] Rise of the major leagues[edit] Baseball Hall of Fame. Ballparks.