Key Transitions and Conflicts in Baseball - Essay Example

Baseball Introduction Baseball is a bat and ball sport that includes nine players divided into two teams. Scores occur when a player hits a thrown ball with a bat making it extremely challenging. Baseball has been described as the quintessential American sport. The game rose to fame in 1840s from the British game of rounders. Although it is a widely popular game globally there have been some tumults in the labor and capital sector. This paper examines these problems and how they arose. Furthermore, this paper identifies key transitions and conflicts in this famous game. A Historical Review of Capital and Labor in Baseball In the early years of baseball, the game was imbalanced with winning teams having more money and recruiting all good players. This left other teams with no good players which led top poor performances thus loss of fan bases and eventually lack of pulling crowds charisma. Such leagues always folded their teams and left the game as they could not afford to play anymore. As such the good players from these teams were paid to join the winning teams which only increased competition and led to the imbalance. These movements saw a large number of players frequently shift teams. This led to a set of rules to be made by the baseball industry in 1879 to 1888. These rules restricted player movements and even pays thus creating a monopoly in the baseball industry. These monopolistic rules stripped the players of all rights thus the owners thrived in the games at the expense of the players. That is more money was received from ticket sales, which were also, being printed by the owners, while players were viewed as workers who worked for a standard salary. Furthermore, there was no work security as players were sacked frequently with little or no explanations. This situation angered the players and even the fans. A player named Cartwright formed the first player’s league in 1890. This meant that players who felt that the monopolistic rules were hurting them could join. Many joined the player’s league, and they drew in large crowds even when they were losing. This laxity of rules saw players move teams whenever they liked, and this caused a massive problem. This is because revolving of players hurt the fan base loyalty and game attendance. Furthermore, exemplary players were given large contracts while rising players were paid less. Owners of the teams lacked control over the players thus set up rules that would ensure standardization and regulation. This saw the league constitution set up in 1876. This constitution led the baseball team a try at organized games. Role Class Conflict (S) Played in Baseball’s Development The baseball industry was marred with social class conflicts in its early years. Social class was about color, race and organized play. The upper class society could not watch nor attend a game which was not organized and which had many black individuals (Gelzheiser, 36). Furthermore, nearly ninety percent of baseball players came from the middle class society. Only about twenty percent had achieved white collar jobs with the remaining being skilled craftsmen and small time proprietors. Being such people they players often argue, have fist fights and vulgar language use. This brought the social class problem since the upper class still watched more cricket that baseball. The famous 28 year old rookie Jackie Robinson smashed the color barrier in baseball. His effortlessness saw the papers put the black players on top of the baseball players list. This was stated that the blacks can indeed play the white mans game due to the connection they put in baseball and their aspiration for public respect. This made black player’s aim at playing organized, followed and a watched game thing that the Americans had wanted to see for a long time. This control and organization destroyed the social class barrier in that the upper class adults were now in association with black baseball players (Gelzheiser, 37). Sport’s Particular Path from Amateurism to Professionalism The path from amateurism to professionalism was not an easy task. Baseball was not a professional game from its conception. Players were not paid as other sports were being paid. This was causing unprofessionalism, which also caused a barrier in the social class attendance to the game. The national association of baseball players, NABBP in 1868 found irregularities in the game as some star players were paid secretly or indirectly while other players did not get paid. The board set up rules that would make baseball professional in 1869 declaring that teams that were ready to pay its players were free to call themselves professionals (Gelzheiser, 7). The members saw this freedom as a way of retaining integrity in the game. The first team to declare professionalism was the Cincinnati Red Stockings. This was followed by a flow of other teams in the same year. The players were funded by the owners who were businessmen. An example is the earnings of the Cincinnatian red stockings who earned 600 to 1400 dollars a year (Gelzheiser, 74). This was a significant raise since most of these players were craftsmen or proprietors and earned far less that the amount they were being paid in the games. Key Conflicts and Transitions The transition of baseball from amateurism to professionalism faced numerous conflicts. The first conflict was that armature players developed jealousy at the professional players (Gelzheiser, 72). This caused poor performances when armature players played against professional players. The matter was fuelled by the fact that their opponents were from the working class, conversely, the upper class members also looked down upon craftsmen and tradesmen who played no matter how good they were. Secondly, another conflict arose with professionalism. There were after game parties where players would party hard after a game. Professional players declined partying with armatures and wanted to only play with people of equal social class. This extremely angered armature players since they valued the after game as much as the games. Moreover, they felt that this separation destroyed the good feeling that was necessary in a team’s success. Thirdly, a majority of the citizens opposed the professionalism that was taking place with baseball. This is because they felt that it was destroying the wholesomeness of the American game (Gelzheiser, 73). Professional players were now described as working while they were playing since they had to conform to certain rules. They had to be disciplined and to follow rules. Overnight baseball had become an occupation from a recreation. However highly paid the professional players were they were looked down upon even with the upper class society. Finally, another conflict was in the lack of public respect of professional players. The social status of players declined to extremely low levels as people felt they earned a fortune in a play as compared to other fields (Gelzheiser, 72). To make matters worse, professional baseball players earned even more than managers depending on a number of factors like owner wealth, skill levels, and fan drawing power and filed positions. This earned the players the term workers and low social status. Conclusion Baseball started in the 1840s from the British. The game started as a recreational activity but has grown to be an occupation. The road from amateurism to professionalism was rough, but in the end it helped the game a fabulous deal. Social class conflict was a barrier that in deep insight helped raise the teams and lead them to professionalism. Social class barriers smashed racism and led to organize, controlled and paid games. Work Cited Gelzheiser, Robert P. Labor and Capital in 19th Century Baseball. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co, 2006. Print. Read More