Baseball in America - Assignment Example

IntroductionThe commencement of the twentieth century marked a renaissance of professional baseball since its turmoil in the 1890s. The Dead Ball Era of 1900-1919 is often stated to imply the critical condition of baseball sports in the United States. The Dead Ball Era was also marked as the end to the rapid advancement of baseball sports in the nineteenth century (Sullivan, 2001). This brief discussion will thus emphasize the contributing factors observed in this era wherein the finish of the rapid advancement of baseball game had been marked by many experts from around the world.

DiscussionThe contribution of the frugal club owners in uplifting the Dead Ball Era is quite noteworthy. This might be owing to the reason that they had been viewed to remain much reluctant in spending money towards purchasing new balls if not required. Hence, leading to the inhibition of the players’ skills, as new balls are essentially required in the sports to maintain bowling speed and intended direction from preventing the opponent team to score runs (or points). The inhibited proficiencies of the players to perform exemplary due to their non-availability of new balls resulted in the onset of low-scoring games.

This also contributed in fueling the Dead Ball Era. Furthermore, the low-scoring games became much prevalent during that period due to certain changes made in the rules while playing the game. For instance, the National League in the year 1901 adopted the rule of “foul-strike”, which counted foul balls as strikes. Prior to the adoption of this rule, the batters could securely swing at several marginal pitches and thus, permitted for more hits. However, with the introduction of this rule, the batters had to make numerous marginal pitches without being swung on, which eventually lessened the number of hits of the batters and prevented them from making an easier win.

This ultimately resulted in low-scoring games and thus, it was duly considered as one of the prime contributory aspects, which laid the foundation of the Dead Ball Era (Sowell, 2011). The end of The Dead Ball Era was witnessed after the demise of Ray Chapman, who was hitted in one of the innings of a “twilight game” by a ‘submarine pitch’ made by one of the players named Carl Mays in the year 1920. This was mainly due to the ball, which became discolored and harder to be seen, resulting in the fatality.

The occurrence and worldwide criticism of “1919 Chicago Black Sox Scandal” also contributed in intensifying the Dead Ball Era and leading to its conclusion. The scandal was mainly related to fixing a game by one of the most successful teams of that period named ‘The Black Sox’, leading to the reformation of the game rules with greater focus on players’ skills and efficiencies (Sowell, 2011). ConclusionBased on the above analysis and discussion, it can be concluded that certain critical aspects had eventually marked the end of rapid advancement of baseball sport in the nineteenth century in the US, causing the formation of the Dead Ball Era.

These aspects can be apparently observed in relation to the governance structure followed in the US baseball sports industry. However, with the end of this era, the sports sector witnessed credible hypes in its performance and growth. ReferencesSullivan, D. A. (2001). Middle innings: a documentary history of baseball, 1900-1948. United States: University of Nebraska Press. Sowell, T., 2011. The Thomas Sowell Reader. United States: Basic Books.