Sociogenesis of Baseball

Baseball is America's national pastime, and has been a popular sport in this country for more than a century. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright designed the modern baseball field, and also devised the basic rules of the game, and formed the New York Knickerbockers baseball club, which was a precursor to modern baseball teams that would follow in the decades ahead. Interestingly, the game of baseball was based off the British game called "Rounders", which became popular in the United States during the early 19th century. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings were formed, which was considered the first professional baseball team, and the first professional baseball league (the National Association of Professional Baseball Players) was formed two years later. In 1878, a patent for a baseball catcher's mask was formed, thereby setting the standard for baseball equipment. As the pictures indicate, the design of the catcher's mask has changed over time, from when it was first invented to the modern day.

In 1901, the American League was formed, which solidified the modern version of Major League Baseball. At the end of the season, the team with the best record in the National League has traditionally faced the American League champion in the World Series. The game became significantly more popular in the 1920s, and this is known as the "live ball" era, where players like Babe Ruth began to hit home runs; a rare event in the previous decades (the "dead ball" era). The game continued to increase in popularity throughout the years, and the color barrier was broken in the 1940s by Jackie Robinson, who was the first black athlete to play in the major leagues. Today, baseball continues to be a popular sport, although the use of performance enhancing drugs has been a controversial subject that continues to provoke intense debate.

References: http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventions/a/Baseball.htm