Why People Love The Game of Baseball

A lot of people love baseball, there is no doubt about it. Baseball,
for some, has ceased to be just a mere sport, it has become their
passion. In fact, there are enthusiasts who are so devoted to the game
that they always make it a point to be at every baseball event as much
as possible. Not only do these ardent fans keep track of the progress
of every team each season, they are also the foremost consumers of
baseball souvenir items like caps, tee-shirts, watches, cards, and
many more. These things sometimes drive you to think what makes this
game so endeared with almost all Americans. Why many people love
baseball.For a very long time now, baseball has always been regarded
as America's national sport. Its early origins can be traced back to
the English game of rounders where the players hit a small, leather
ball with a round wooden, or metal, bat and then running around the
four bases in order to score. Rounders was thought to have been
introduced by the British around the late 1700s or early 1800s in the
United States and it immediately caught the fancy of the Americans. At
the outset, the game was known as townball or base and it was played
by informal teams using locally concocted rules. With the passing of
time, however, and with the growing popularity of the game, these
rules were compiled and adopted by various competing teams. Later on,
the game started to be known as just baseball.Alexander Joy Cartwright
is generally regarded as the father of modern baseball. Apparently,
the credit for the design of modern baseball field and much of the
rules and regulations that are still in effect today is largely
attributed to him. He was instrumental in the formation of the
Knickerbocker Team who later on played the first ever recorded
official game of baseball was in the year 1846 with the New York Base
Ball Club.Since then, the popularity of the game skyrocketed and it
started to become America's favorite past time. Just twelve years
after the first official game was played, the National Association of
Base Ball Players, which is always thought of as the forerunner of
Major League Baseball, was officially formed.Today, the game remained
as America's number one favorite pastime, generating billions of
dollars in revenues, not only from ticket sales, but also from
endorsements, souvenir items, sports wear, and other similar items.
The game has also inspired a lot of movies and books, real or fiction,
to be written, which endeared the game further with majority of
Americans. It is therefore not surprising if America's love for
baseball continues to endure all through the years.