History of Baseball - Research Paper Example

Baseball has been there for long in the history in different parts of America, Europe and Asia. Different sources maintain different records about the origin of baseball as the game, and thus make the exact origin of it debatable. However, there is no doubt in the fact that baseball has been played in America in a proper way since the later half of the 19th century. In addition to the American League that all of us are generally aware of, there used to be a Negro League as well. Evidence has been found for the claim that for centuries, the indigenous tribes of America have been playing a game much like what we know today as baseball.

However, to play that game, the tribes made use of sticks and balls which were made from various kinds of materials. Like this, Cricket, that is known worldwide as an English game is much similar to baseball in nature. The similarities between cricket and baseball include but are not limited to developing the pitch for the game, the need to hit the ball with the help of a bat, and the use of mitt for the purpose of fielding. Baseball had always been there in the history of Asia as well. Moghols and Genghis Khan used to play the games that were just like the baseball though they had to be riding the horses in order to play the game.

There used to be a Major League Baseball which had divided into two separate leagues, namely the National League and the American League. The latter of the two is often referred to as the Senior Circuit and this happened to be the original baseball league. With the expansion of baseball after numerous decades, the National League was added to the Senior Circuit. In America, baseball has hardly changed at all since the evolution of this game, with the basic equipment that includes a bat, a ball, a base, and a glove remaining unchanged.

In the 1800s, Americans formed informal teams to play baseball. “By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime."” (Bellis). Discussion of the modern baseball is incomplete without discussion of Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892) who lived in New York and in 1845, founded the modern field of baseball. Cartwright together with several other members of the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised rules which were internationally accepted for baseball.

Steroids have played an important role in altering the history as well as the integrity of baseball. Steroids have long been part of the baseball game. There have been players who have talked about the use of steroids by the players in early 1960s, yet most players hold the consensus that baseball players did not start using steroids until late 1990s. Illegal edges have conventionally been looked for by many baseball players. They have been spitting on the balls, stealing signs, tampering the balls and making use of amphetamines to boost the energy level of the body.

However, there has not been much resistance towards the use of steroids by the baseball players because of the fact that in order to be successful in baseball, one did not need to be bulky or muscular. Accordingly, consuming steroids hardly made any difference. The 1990s home run explosion was the first clue that steroids were being used by players to get stronger, quicken reflexes and play through injuries.