Baseball is often considered as American as apple pie ¾ a national pastime ¾ but it was not created until after the Civil War and since then 30 teams have been created to play from April until October.

The first recorded baseball game occurred in 1846. The first organized baseball league was formed in 1858.  Major League Baseball, as we know it, was created in 1869.

The 30 teams that are in Major League Baseball now are located in large cities across the nation. The National League includes 17 teams and the American League includes 15 teams. The two leagues were created as competition towards one another.

In the beginning of the twentieth century baseball went through a “dead ball” phase where few homeruns were hit and the game relied on contact hitters, bunting and base stealing to provide some form of offense.

Throughout the twentieth century players like Babe Ruth, Willie Horton, Kirk Gibson, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, and many others emerged. Now the players that are commonly associated with baseball are Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Justin Verlander, and Mark McGuire.

Baseball references have been made in entertainment with “Casey at the Bat” and Abbett and Costello’s “Who’s on First.” Still to this day, baseball is popular with 19.4 million viewers tuning in to watch the New York Yankees win their twenty-seventh World Series Championship.