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Baseball in the United States began in the 19th century as a variation of many games that made use of a ball and some sort of a rackets.
Throughout this time, Baseball\'s growth mirrored the growth of the United States. By the turn of the century, the country had boomed
through the industrial revolution with cities growing at a alarming rate. Likewise, Baseball had become a professional sport where
spectators paid to watch highly skilled athletes to play a child\'s game.
The popularity of amateur baseball clubs that played between 1845 - 1865, led to the introduction of the first professional baseball club,
the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The Red Stockings\' success against the amateur teams provided incentive to create America\'s first
professional baseball league, the National Association of baseball Players in 1871. Though the new league was not a complete success,
it significantly increased baseball\'s popularity across the land.
William Ambrose Hubert? (president of the Chicago club) and Al Spalding (a pitcher in Boston) believed that reforms were needed to
protect baseball from the corruption and instability that surrounded the National Association. At a meeting in Louisville in 1876, Hubert,
Spalding, and representatives of the St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Louisville baseball clubs designed a set of guidelines for the new league,
named The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The National League contained of 8 clubs, however, between 1876 and
1900, only Chicago and Boston fielded a team each year.
During the first two decades of existence, The National League withstood threats of competition from newer professional leagues. In
the 1890\'s, The National leagues dominance weakened after growing to 12 teams, an unmanageable number for that period. Although
Baseball remained the countries favorite sport, it was gaining a reputation for rowdiness and dirty play that didn\'t match the era. In the
American League, games were not played on Sundays and women were encouraged to attend ball games. Johnson and Comiskey set a
goal to establish a new image for the game. Recognizing that its power had declined partially by managing too many teams, The National
League sold four teams to the new league in 1900.
?official baseball logo
Following this transaction, National League officials still scoffed at this new league when it began play in 1901. However after luring
many premiere National League Players with higher salaries and running a \"kinder, gentler league,\" American League attendance
exceeded National League attendance by 600,000 fans in 1902. Early in 1903, the National League granted the American League status
as a Major League. With this, came a consistent scheduling system, player contract regulations, and playing guidelines that the two
leagues would share. Another product of this agreement was the World Series, which pitted the American league champion against the
National League champion in a nine game series (later shortened to seven) that would determine the World Champion of Baseball.
In 1903, 16 franchises competed for the first World Series Championship. Though some of these teams have moved to new locations or
changed their names, the modern era of baseball began in 1903 with the same goal that exists today.
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