ORIGINS OF BASEBALL
Baseball is a game that came from a combination of Cricket and Rounders. Cricket was a white upper-class game and Rounders was a children's or lower-class game. Nobody is exactly sure how or who invented baseball, but a popular legend claims that Union Officer, Abner Doubleday created the game in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. The real founder of baseball is Alexander Cartwright. He was the organizer of the first professional team, the New York Knickerbockers. He developed a set of 20 rules, 14 governing play and 6 relating to administration that became the foundation of modern baseball. They also set up foul lines. On June 19, 1846, the Knickerbockers played in what is widely considered the first modern baseball game. In 1858 the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was established and ruled that players could not accept money for playing baseball. In 1868 they changed their policy because of pressure from players. The first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, began play in 1869. In 1876 the National league was formed an in 1882 the American league was formed. The first World Series between the American and National leagues was in 1903 and it has been held almost every year since. Over the last hundred years baseball has expanded but has remained the same.