The exact origins of the modern game of baseball are somewhat difficult to track. Ball games have been played throughout the centuries; in America, where baseball originated, the game generally traces its lineage back to some combination of cricket and rounders, two games brought over by European settlers.

There is, of course, the popular myth that Abner Doubleday, a Union soldier from the Civil War “invented” or “created” the modern game of baseball, but there is no actual proof of this, and Doubleday himself never claimed to have anything to do with the game.

New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club Rules Set Though formal rules for “Base ball” can be found as far back as 1838 in Philadelphia, the first set of rules which resemble the game today come from the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, a group of about thirty young men who regularly played the game. The rules they established (which are still used today) include a diamond-shaped field, making the “balk” illegal, introducing foul lines, three strikes-and-out for a batter and that runners must be tagged or thrown out. The first official game played under these rules was on June 19, 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey, between the Knickerbockers and the New York Base Ball Club (with the Knickerbockers losing 23-1).

The National Pastime The first reference to baseball as “the National Pastime” came from the New York Mercury newspaper in 1856, though the title then was a bit premature. Baseball in that time emerged as a New York game played primarily by immigrants. Newcomers to America took to the game by scores, forming their own baseball clubs, while the Knickerbockers continued to refine the game. Growth Of Baseball The spread of baseball occurred primarily after the American Civil War. Because cricket required finely cut grounds, it was harder to play the game during the war. Baseball, on the other hand, could be played almost anywhere. Additionally, though the majority of clubs belonged to middle-class merchants, the 1850s and 60s saw the rise of working-class teams, which became the most popular among the fans of the game, most of whom were working-class people themselves.

First Pro Team Cincinnati Red Stockings The country’s first “all-professional” baseball team emerged in 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, financed by a group of Ohio investors. Each player was paid a salary, with the highest paid player, shortstop George Wright, earning $1,400 per season – a value equal to almost $23,000 a year now. However, in 1870, the manager of the team moved it to Boston. A year later, the newly-minted Boston Red Stockings, along with eight other teams from Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Troy (New York), Fort Wayne (Indiana), Cleveland and Rockford (Illinois) formed the National Association of Professional Ball Players.