History of Baseball

Baseball was founded by Alexander Cartwright in the early 1800’s. In 1845 Alexander Cartwright made the first rules that every team could play by.

In 1846, the first recorded baseball game was played. Alexander Cartwright’s team, the knickerbockers versed the New York baseball club. They played at Elysian field in New Jersey and lost.

In 1857, the teams were called together to discuss the rules and other issues. So each of the 25 teams sent one delegate to speak for there team. The following year they formed the National Association of Base Ball Players, the first real organized baseball league.

Throughout the civil war years, the number of teams dropped but then in 1868 there were more baseball teams then ever in history. As there were more and more baseball, teams admission price got more popular and this was when winning started to become important in baseball.

After the civil war, the Cincinnati Red Stockings decided to be a professional team. This quickly went around and most teams became professional. There were still some teams that wanted to stay amateurs but they couldn’t compete against the pros so they faded away.  

In 1876, the National Association turned into the National League. The only change this had was that instead of the players owning the team and running the games, a business man did all that stuff.

Soon after, in 1882, the American Association established. When this league was made, it was made for a rivalry. This league had lower prices on everything than the National League. This act caused the teams to honor their players’ contracts.

While this was happening the players did not like it so they tried to form their own league. This league was called the Union Association. Many players left to join this association to have freedom, but it only lasted 1 season because they lost too much money in the regular associations. They attempted again in 1890 when they developed a different team called the Players Association. This league had the best players from the other 2 leagues, but they still went bankrupt after the first season.

In 1901, another challenger appeared. This challenger was the American League.  The American League took some of the best players and the National League wasn’t too happy so they took this to court and they found a way that both teams could run peacefully.

Throughout the first decade of the 20^th century, baseball was still a game of strategy. The “dead ball” gave a lot of homeruns to the teams which meant more runs for the teams. But this changed in 1911 when a ball with a cork in the center a.k.a. the cork ball came into play. This ball changed batting averages dramatically.

In 1914, another rivalry began to form. This rivalry was the Federal League. This league was both on the field and in the courtroom and sued the American League because they thought that they were constituting a monopoly. The Federal league failed after 2 seasons. In 1922, the Supreme Court exempted anti-trust legislation from baseball. Soon after, they confirmed the monopoly.

The 1920s were great years for baseball. In 1919, a legend was born. This legend was Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth played for the Yankees and the Red Sox and was great hitter and will always be remembered.

During WWII, baseball was more difficult but in this time a new era started. During the 1940s, baseball was racially segregated.  In 1947, Jackie Robinson was the one who changed that by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. For the other teams getting an African American player took really long. It wasn’t until the 1960s until every team in the U.S. had at least one African American on the team.

In 1960 another rivalry came. This was the Continental League. They had to win in court for them not to go bankrupt in the first season. The other teams were mad they didn’t have a monopoly, but they did agree to expand from 16 teams to 24 teams by the end of the decade. The players loved this because expansion meant more jobs. Baseball grew economically as attendance grew, and television and radio brought in more money. But soon the players found out that they are not sharing the wealth. Salaries had been the same for 100 years and now the players demand a raise and they will get it.

They found out that their salary was just 6,000 dollars and then a guy came and showed them the data about how poorly they were being paid. This caused a collective bargaining agreement in 1968. This made some improvements, but it also gave the players some leverage. This was good because the owners of the teams had a take it or leave it relationship with the players. They also could file complaints with the National Labor Relations Board when they were treated unfairly.

The owners did not like this like because it was interfering with their union, and they did not like the players standing up to them. In 1969, an outfielder Curt Flood did not report to training camp. He did this for more than a 5,000 dollar pay raise from the St. Louis Cardinals. They didn’t and then soon after they traded Curt Flood to Philadelphia. Flood argued about the Reserve clause and how it was illegal but the Supreme Court disagreed and also made the players of other teams think about this.

By 1975, 2 other pitchers decided to challenge the reserve clause. It said that they can renew their contracts every year. Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith didn’t sign there contracts. But since they wouldn’t play in the 1975 season how would they play in the 1976 season. This is how the free agency was born.

Players were still not able to play on a team in 1^st couple years of their career, but after those couple years they can join any team they like. The owners loved this. For the next five years they started outspending and outbidding each other. Players liked this too but the owners didn’t. They didn’t like it because when they lost a player they got nothing in returned. They argued about this but hen the players jumped in to the conversation and argued that this would limit their freedom. The 2 sides couldn’t decide so in the middle of 1981 the players walked out.

There had been a brief players strike at the start of the 1972 season, so it delayed the season by 13 days. This was way more serious but there was little talk about it. After 50 days, the owners relented and they came up with a compensation plan. In return, players not eligible for free agency had their salaries made by an arbitrator. The issue got worse and the players and the relationship got more intense.

In 1985, the players struck again. They were hoping that salary arbitration would keep salaries down but it didn’t. The owners said that they wouldn’t change it and the players said they should. After 2 days, the owners relented and the players came back.

Soon after the fee agency marketing suddenly and mysteriously dried up. After the 1986 season the players in search of contracts could not find any bidders. So many of the players resigned with their original teams for lower salaries. This continued for the next 2 years. Then the collective bargaining got prohibited and players got an award for damages.

This all set for the worse battle. In 1992, the owners forced Commissioner Fay Vincent to resign. The labor contract was about to expire and the owners didn’t want him to interfere with conversations. There have already been arguments when the collective bargaining expired, and the players didn’t wand to go through this again. They didn’t start off the 1994 season without a contract and the owners insisted that a salary cap was necessary for teams to survive. They claimed that free agency and salary arbitration were wrecking them. No progress was being made so the players went on strike in August.

The World Series was cancelled the 1^st time in 92 years. Fans across the country were disgusted and heartbroken. President Clinton filed appointed a mediator, but nothing happened.  Finally, the owners decided to unilaterally implement their own plan. They assembled a team of replacement players but they started the 1996 season as real players. The players filed a restraining order, prohibiting the teams from implementing their plan and forcing them to work under the terms of the old agreement until a new one was reached.

In conclusion, baseball had always had their up and downs, but you still see that it is still going today.