Cartwright, better known as the “Father of Baseball” was a founding member of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845, New York but the English claim it was derived from their famous Cricket and continental Europe’s game of Rounders. History suggests that Rounders was introduced on American soil by English Colonists in the early 1800s. This is hard to argue for there was mention of baseball in British children’s books from the mid-1700s.
Inspired by the Brits
Perhaps the conceptual aspect of Baseball is credited to the Brits, but it was Cartwright’s efforts to establish twenty new rules. Cartwright had been involved with the local Town Ball game which was a ball-and-bat game that was relatively like Rounders. The original game entailed that your team would pitch to your team and to eliminate the other player, you would need to hit them with the ball. Cartwright ended this hazardous element and started the iconic 3-strike rule, as well as designed the diamond-shaped infield with the foul lines. They even run in the opposite direction to Rounders.
The First Game
The first baseball game ever was an indoor game in London in November 1748 and played by the Prince of Wales and his family, but the first official Baseball on American soil has also been a contested argument. Records suggest that the first game was played at the Elysian Fields in New Jersey on the 19th of June 1846. The Knickerbockers played and lost 23-1 to the “New York Nines” in 4 innings. Cartwright umpired the game himself and his team lost due to his best players refusing to cross the Hudson River.
This is Not Cricket
With a lot of trial-and-error, Baseball players saw that a bat with a rounded barrel would be most effective. By 1884, the famous Louisville Slugger was born after Pete Browning hit three for three after using John Hillerich’s bat he made at his father’s woodwork shop. In 1924, William Shroyer patented the first baseball bat made from aluminum but only surfaced in the 70s and was permitted in Little Leagues. Over the next 4 decades, the new renditions of the metal bat have been made and inducted into the major leagues. Regardless of its origins and all the curveballs, Baseball today is a home run for the American pastime and is enjoyed by millions across the world. It has continued to blossom into a unique, American sport to be proud of which carries a lot of excitement for what the future holds.