BASEBALL ?? How'd That Happen? 1845-1860. The very beginning of the game we all know and love.

250 Years Ago ---What an Incredible Experiment!

250 years ago  a group of men notified the King of England that they declared the 13 colonies were then an independent entity on their own. They were no longer a part of England in any way.  That notification became known as The Declaration of Independence. The date was July 4th, 1776. It became the birth of The United States of America. The colonials realized that they were taking on the most formidable military force in the world at the time.  A war ensued and, 5 years later, on October of 1781, the British commander, Lord Charles Cornwallis, surrendered the British forces to George Washington and his French allies at Yorktown, Virginia.  13 different colonies, came together to form a union that was destined to change the world.

BASEBALL, HOW'D THAT HAPPEN? The Final Look

From one game in 1845 in Hoboken, NJ, to an international pastime  with hundreds of thousands of players and millions of spectators....all in 55 years. Yikes, How could that have happened?  It's an incredible story that shows what a great game it is and the development process that made the game what it is today.

In The World of Baseball, 60' 6" Makes It a New Game by 1890

A few more rules, Pitcher to home, that is, and 60'6", changes the game. Massive growth continues in spectators, cities and schools.  Japan is No. 1 internationally while Cuba and Mexico are not far behind.

Baseball, 1860-1875 Incredible growth, until April 1861, the Civil War and 4 years of horror. Recovery was still swift and very real.

The Civil War brought baseball to a screeching halt for the first year of the war. then, soldiers played baseball in their downtime. The game was taught to those from the Midwest, such as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. It turned out to be a catalyst for the Baseball's growth.

BASEBALL ?? How'd That Happen? 1845-1860. The very beginning of the game we all know and love.

The years between 1845 and 1860 were crucial in creating the foundation of the game that actually became known nationally as baseball. The Knickerbocker Baseball Club in 1845  created the first 20 rules of baseball. A bit later the National Association of Baseball Players in 1858 added a few more rules to define baseball as the sport destined to become the national game we have today. It wasn't without a hiccup now and then but most of those rules still apply today, a mere 175 years later. Go figure.