History of Major League Baseball

History of Major League Baseball Presented by: Max Willet Beginning Baseball is Americas favorite pastime. The first recorded game was played in 1846 consisting of amateur teams in the areas of New York and New Jersey. These games soon became more popular and people started making money off baseball as a spectator sport. The future looked bright. Beginning Cont. Soon America was in turmoil during the Civil War and so was baseball. Though the game was at a hold it was now spreading throughout the country by the Union soldiers. The Leagues annual convention in 1868 drew more than a hundred delegates. Baseball was becoming a well recognized sport. New Ways The first all professional team was developed by the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869 and soon after caught on. Now was time for professional leagues. The first all professional league was the National Association. Baseball today Baseball has changed from the years starting from 9 teams in the National Association to 30 teams in the American and National Leagues. Many leagues have come and gone and now these two leagues stand together and compete year round and at the end of each year duke it out to see which league is stronger in the world series. The Art of Pitching In the book published by the best pitcher ever Tom Seaver teaches his readers to think of pitching as an art and not a job. Pitching is a leaders postition and the pitcher can set the tone of the whole game. A pitcher can be a fifth infielder and the powerhouse of a team. Tom Seaver was voted into the hall of fame in the highest percentage ever, 425 of 430 votes. He received 3 Cy Young awards which are the most respected pitching awards. He won 311 games and struck out more than 200 batters in 9 consecutive seasons. Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan is probably the most remembered power pitcher of the Pros. He still leads the Major Leagues in strikeouts totaling 5,714, in 27 seasons. He has pitched 7 no-hitters in his career and his last record is most strikeouts in a single season totaling 383. He was the best and threw the fastest fastball in his time after pitching the whole game. It was clocked at 101 mph. Perfect Games Date 6/12/1880 6/17/1990 5/5/1904 10/2/1908 6/23/1917 4/30/1922 10/8/1956 1/21/1964 9/9/1965 9/16/1968 5/15/1981 9/30/1984 9/16/1988 7/28/1991 7/28/1994 5/17/1998 7/18/1999 Pitcher Lee Richmond (Worchester) Monte Ward (Providence) Cy Young (Boston AL) Addie Joss (Cleveland AL) Ernie Shore (Boston AL) Charlie Robertson (Chicago AL) Don Larsen (New York AL) Jim Bunning (Philadelphia NL) Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles NL) Catfish Hunter (Oakland AL) Len Barker (Cleveland AL) Mike Witt (California AL) Tom Browning (Cincinnati) Dennis Martinez (Montreal NL) Kenny Rogers (Texas AL) David Wells (New York AL) David Cone (New York AL) Opponent Cleveland NL Buffalo NL Philadelphia AL Chicago AL Washington AL Detroit AL Brooklyn NL New York NL Chicago NL Minnesota AL Toronto AL Texas AL LosAngeles NL Los Angeles NL California AL Minnesota AL Montreal NL Score 1-0 5-0 3-0 1-0 4-0 2-0 2-0 6-0 1-0 4-0 3-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 4-0 4-0 6-0 The Winning Hitter Hitting is the offense of baseball. Although good pitching usually takes good hitting, batting draws the crowds. Hitting has always been baseballs money maker. Baseball first started to draw crowds to the professional parks when they corked the ball and more home runs were being hit instead of reallying on contact, bunting, and stealing. Hank Aaron Hank Aaron is not just the leagues highest home run hitter at 755 but holds 12 other major league records, like most games, bases, at bats, and RBI’s. He even was a great outfielder receiving 3 golden gloves. In 1957 he was given the honor of being the leagues most valuable player. In 1957 he also set the record for appearances in All-Star games. Hank Aaron was an awesome baseball player. Babe Ruth Babe Ruth or the Sultan of Swat or the Great Bambino first started out as a pitcher and a good one at that. He set the record for consecutive scoreless innings. The Yankees changed him into one of the most famous batters in the history of baseball. He finished his career with 714 home runs and 60 in one year. Mark McGuire Mark McGuire had an amazing run with Sammy Sosa for the home run record a few years ago. His record was for 70 home runs in one season. It was just recently broken by Barry Bonds. Catchers Catchers have one of baseballs hardest positions. The catcher has to be the leader on the field, along with the pitcher, but he is the captain. When ever there is a ball hit he has to be calling a name or a bag to throw to. He has to be lining up the cut off man and he has to catch every pitch. The catcher must know what the batter did last time at bat so he knows what pitch to call. The catcher is the captain of the baseball field. Infielders Infielders are the backbone of a team. Without a good set of infielders a pitcher is going to have to work way to hard and the opposition is going to walk right over that team. Shown in the picture to the left infielders can really make a difference and like Cal Ripken Jr. can earn a golden glove award and enter the hall of fame. Fenway Park in Boston is the oldest Baseball Park still in use with the MLB. It was opened on April 20, 1912. The first game was a win for the Red Sox against the New York Highlanders 7-6 in the 11th inning. Oldest Stadium Although it is the oldest stadium it has changed. A fire in the 1930’s ruined much of the stadium and reconstruction had to be done. This is when the trademark of Fenway Field was created, the Green Monster. Newest Stadium PNC Park in Pittsburg is the Newest Stadium in Major League Baseball. It opened in 2001 and is designed to represent early style parks like Wrigley and Fenway. It has grass playing field but latest advancements in player comfort. Cool Stats • The Chicago Cubs and the Seattle Mariners hold the record for most wins in a season at 116. • The New York Mets lead the Leagues in number of losses in a season at 120 in 1962. • The Yankees have the most World Series titles at 26 and to put it into perspective the next team down has 9 (Cardinals & Athletics). Cool Stats 2 • The Cubs had the lowest team ERA ever at 1.73. • The Phillies have the highest ERA ever at 6.72. • The Chicago White Sox have the lowest team home runs in a season at 3 in 1908. • The White Sox hold the record for most runs scored in a game at 29, shared with the Red Sox. • The Red Sox also hold the record for most runs in an inning at 17 against the Tigers in 1953. • The longest winning streak was in 1915 held by the Giants at 26 straight games. • The longest loosing streak was 23 by the Phillies. Work Cited • • • • • • • • • • The Art of Pitching by: Tom Seaver The Winning Hitter by: Charley Lau http://www.baseballhalloffame.org http://www.baseball1.com http://www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ http://www.baseball-almanac.com http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com http://mlb.mlb.com http://www.ballparks.com http://www.sportingnews.com Summary History of Major League Baseball Beginning Beginning Continued New Ways Baseball Today The Art of Pitching Nolan Ryan Perfect Games The Winning Hitter Hank Aaron Babe Ruth Mark McGuire Catchers Infielders Oldest Stadium Newest Stadium Cool Stats Cool Stats2 Work Cited