It follows the seasons beginning each year with the expectancy of spring time, and ending with the hard facts of autumn. Americans have played baseball for more than 200 years, while they conquered a continent, fought at war with one another, struggled over labor and civil rights, and the meaning of freedom. Baseball is a deeply conservative game that manages to be years ahead of its time. It is an American odyssey that links sons and daughters to fathers and grandfathers. It also reflects age old American tensions between workers and owners, scandal and reform, the individual and the collective. It is a game in which every player is measured against all of those who have gone before them. Entrenched in the folklore of American sports is the
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The fact that the game of baseball has been recognized as America's "national pastime" for nearly a century and a half represents one of the more remarkable aspects of American popular culture. On the surface, the game focuses on everything ignored by most Americans. Americans are supposed to enjoy up-tempo, fast-paced, constantly moving activities; yet, baseball offers only a split-second of activity for every second of inactivity. The players on the field stay relatively motionless unless the ball is hit in their direction. Nevertheless, baseball has functioned as a constant for American society throughout a myriad of turbulent times. So one must ask the question: "Why Baseball?" One has to wonder why a sport that aesthetically contradicts most of the ideals of American society remains so popular. First, one must realize that the term "home" can encapsulate many different concepts. "Home" can mean, among many things, some one’s house, country of origin, or …show more content…
In the 20th century, large ballparks with stands were being built so people were able to go watch a baseball game in person. Baseball began to attract so many fans that in 1876 the National league was organized-the same National league that still exists today. Although the game was played in 1876 it was recognizable as baseball-nobody would confuse it with football or basketball-it was quite a bit different from baseball as we know it now. For example, pitchers had to throw underhand, the way they still do in softball; the batter could request the pitcher to throw a "high" or "low" pitch; it took nine balls, rather than four, for a batter to get a base on balls; and the pitching distance was only 45feet to home plate. The rules were gradually changed over the following 20 years, until by about 1900 the game was more or less the same as it is today. In 1884, the pitchers were permitted to throw overhand; in 1887, the batter was no longer allowed to request a "high" or "low" pitch; by 1889,it took only four balls to get a batter to a base on balls; the pitching distance was lengthened to sixty-feet, six inches. Baseball began in the mid 1800’s. It was played in people’s backyard just for fun. Then it began more and more popular. People began to get really good at the sport. It suddenly became what we know as Major League Baseball. This is when baseball
The fact that the game of baseball has been recognized as America's "national pastime" for nearly a century and a half represents one of the more remarkable aspects of American popular culture. On the surface, the game focuses on everything ignored by most Americans. Americans are supposed to enjoy up-tempo, fast-paced, constantly moving activities; yet, baseball offers only a split-second of activity for every second of inactivity. The players on the field stay relatively motionless unless the ball is hit in their direction. Nevertheless, baseball has functioned as a constant for American society throughout a myriad of turbulent times. So one must ask the question: "Why Baseball?" One has to wonder why a sport that aesthetically contradicts most of the ideals of American society remains so popular. First, one must realize that the term "home" can encapsulate many different concepts. "Home" can mean, among many things, some one’s house, country of origin, or …show more content…
In the 20th century, large ballparks with stands were being built so people were able to go watch a baseball game in person. Baseball began to attract so many fans that in 1876 the National league was organized-the same National league that still exists today. Although the game was played in 1876 it was recognizable as baseball-nobody would confuse it with football or basketball-it was quite a bit different from baseball as we know it now. For example, pitchers had to throw underhand, the way they still do in softball; the batter could request the pitcher to throw a "high" or "low" pitch; it took nine balls, rather than four, for a batter to get a base on balls; and the pitching distance was only 45feet to home plate. The rules were gradually changed over the following 20 years, until by about 1900 the game was more or less the same as it is today. In 1884, the pitchers were permitted to throw overhand; in 1887, the batter was no longer allowed to request a "high" or "low" pitch; by 1889,it took only four balls to get a batter to a base on balls; the pitching distance was lengthened to sixty-feet, six inches. Baseball began in the mid 1800’s. It was played in people’s backyard just for fun. Then it began more and more popular. People began to get really good at the sport. It suddenly became what we know as Major League Baseball. This is when baseball