The Physics behind Baseball History By Jon Drobnis

Alexander Cartwright
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In the early days of the history of baseball there were several variations of the game known as Rounders, but the game had no set of "official" rules. This game of Rounders eventually led to a game known as Town Ball and then to the game we now know as baseball.

In 1845, a man known as Alexander Cartwright was looking for some recreation with a group of friends. They began to play a version of Rounders, but Cartwright added some new rules to the game.

He began to give the game some order and precision. He made the decision that the bases should be set at 90 feet apart and that they should be in a diamond formation. He also decided that there should be 9 players on each team and devised the positioning that is still used today. Cartwright decided that each team would get three outs and then switch sides. He also decided that a 90 degree angle should be used to determine if a ball was playable. This is where we got the foul ball. The beginning of baseball had begun.

The first organized baseball game was between two rival clubs that took place on June 19, 1846 at Elysian Field in Hoboken, New Jersey. The game took place between the Knickerbocker club from New York City and the New York Nine. The New York Nine won the game.

Baseball in the 1800's
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Picutre of Fenway park in 1918 before the infamous Green Monster!
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Eventually other people caught onto this sport and clubs all over formed teams that would play against each other. The game spread across the country and became known as the New York game. Later this New York game would be called baseball and would become the official sport of the United States. The first World Series was played in 1884. Plenty of years of the World Series would come.