The history of baseball in the form in which it is familiar to most fans of the sport today, begins in the XIX century in the United States. For a long time, Americans believed that the creator of the game, beloved by the entire nation, is the hero of the Civil War, General Abner Doubleday. However, numerous recent historical studies have shown that the creator of modern baseball is actually Alexander Cartwright from New York. He is the one who owns the rule book developed in 1845, and it was he who created the first ever Knickerbocker Baseball Club.
Cartwright created an entire game system, according to which each baseball team must consist of nine players. At the same time, there should be four so-called bases on the field, distant from each other at a distance of 90 feet (that’s 27.3 meters). On June 19, 1846, it was decided to hold the first official match between New York Nike and Knickerbocker to see the rules in action. “The New York Knicks defeated the Knickerbockers clean through.
After such an exciting sporting spectacle witnessed by the people of Hoboken, baseball clubs began to open in other cities in the United States. Then baseball mania spread to other countries.
In 1869, many teams already had “the best of the best” who were paid money to participate in games, and in 1876 the country matured to the creation of the National Baseball League. In 1901, the American Baseball League came into existence.
The difference between the two was only one thing – only professional baseball players were allowed to participate in the National League games, while only amateurs could participate in the American League games.
The first major baseball championship was held in 1938. It featured teams from the United States and Great Britain. The British took four games out of five and became single-digit winners of the series. Interestingly, after such a resounding victory, the British no longer participated in such competitions.
The popularity of baseball grew rapidly. In 1939, three teams took part in the World Cup, and in 1941 already nine. Initially, only teams from the United States and Latin American countries could participate in the various championships, but then the rule was changed, and European, Asian and Australian teams were able to take part.