| Baseball and its Origins
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| | peacefully co-exist.
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| The exact origins of baseball are
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| | During the first decade of the 20th
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| unknown, but most historians concur that
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| | century, baseball remained a game of
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| it was derived from the English game of
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| | strategy. Its so-called "dead ball" led
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| rounders. It started gaining population
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| | to few homeruns. Contact-hitters, base
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| in the United States in the early 19th
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| | stealing and bunting provided most of its
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| century, and many sources report the
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| | offense. The 1911 adoption of cork-
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| growing popularity of the game, sometimes
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| | centered ball changed the game
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| called "townball" or simply "base."
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| | dramatically. With the use of the new
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| During this period, small towns formed
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| | ball, forty years of batting records
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| teams and larger cities established
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| | began to fall, and the game's popularity
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| baseball clubs. In 1845, Alexander
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| | exploded.
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| Cartwright established a formal list of
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| | One of the most popular people in U. S.
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| rules for play. Many of those rules are
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| | history is George "Babe" Ruth. He alone
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| still in place today. Abner Doubleday is
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| | revolutionized the game because he could
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| widely credited with inventing the game,
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| | hit a home run just about every time his
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| but baseball's true father was
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| | bat hit the ball. He first started
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| Cartwright.
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| | baseball as a pitcher for the Boston Red
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| The first recorded baseball game took
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| | Sox, then became an outfielder for the
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| place in 1846 when Cartwright's
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| | New York Yankees. The year was 1920, and
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| Knickerbockers lost to the New York
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| | it was a very good year for baseball.
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| Baseball Club in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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| | Some really great players have come from
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| Baseball continued to grow in popularity
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| | the game of baseball since the days of
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| after this game until the Cincinnati Red
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| | Babe Ruth. Men like Hank Aaron, Pete
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| Stockings decided to become the first
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| | Rose, Ted Williams, Reggie Jackson and
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| entirely professional team in 1869. Two
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| | Roger Maris have all contributed to this
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| years later the first professional
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| | great game. Labor disputes and work
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| baseball league, the National
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| | stoppages have also marred the game over
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| Association, was formed. This association
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| | the years but the worst was in 1994 when
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| was short-lived because the teams were
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| | the World Series was actually cancelled
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| owned and operated by the players
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| | because the players were on strike. The
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| themselves. A group of businessmen formed
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| | game picked up in 1998 and regained some
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| the National League in 1875, giving birth
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| | of its popularity since the 1994 strike
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| to modern professional baseball. The
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| | due in large to the race for the home-run
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| American League formed in 1901 and raided
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| | record in a single season between Mark
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| many of the National League's players,
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| | McGuire and Sammy Sousa. McGuire won by
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| causing the National League's
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| | beating Maris longstanding record of 61
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| commissioners to turn on each other. A
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| | home runs by hitting 70 of his own. His
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| court injunction, which impaneled a
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| | glory didn't last long though because in
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| three-man commission to run the league,
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| | 2001, Barry Bonds beat McGuire's 70 home
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| paved the way for the two-leagues to
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| | runs by hitting 73 home runs of his own.
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