History of baseball

The historical development of baseball from its roots in bat-and-ball games through the growth of professional leagues, changing rules, and worldwide cultural influence.

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Rounders: A bat-and-ball game, played chiefly in Britain and Ireland, in which batters run around bases after hitting a ball. Its resemblance to early baseball illustrates the older games from which baseball developed.
Baseball rules: The regulations governing baseball, including play, scoring, equipment, and competition. Changes to rules—from pitching to foul balls—repeatedly redirected the sport's development.
Jackie Robinson: The first Black player of the modern era in Major League Baseball, debuting with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. His entry into the major leagues became a landmark in baseball's integration and the wider civil rights struggle.
Negro leagues: Professional baseball leagues formed by Black players and owners during the era of segregation. They sustained high-level competition while Major League Baseball excluded Black players.
Abner Doubleday baseball myth: The discredited story that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. The myth replaced the sport's gradual development with a simple national origin story.
Alexander Cartwright: A New York Knickerbocker associated with codifying baseball rules in 1845. The Knickerbocker rules helped define an organized version of baseball in the United States.
Designated hitter: A player who bats in place of a pitcher without taking the pitcher's defensive position. Its adoption in the American League created a major difference between the two leagues.
Babe Ruth: An American baseball player whose home-run hitting made him one of the sport's most famous stars. His power hitting helped define baseball's post-Deadball Era and its growing mass appeal.
Baseball color line: The informal policy that barred Black players from Major League Baseball from the late nineteenth century until 1947. Its enforcement shaped careers, leagues, and the meaning of Robinson's integration.
Cricket: A bat-and-ball sport in which two teams take turns batting and fielding on a pitch within an oval ground. Its older history and distinct rules help separate baseball's development from related bat-and-ball traditions.