The distinct evolution of baseball from among the various bat-and-ball games is difficult to pin point. However, it is mainly agreed that modern baseball is a North American development from the earlier game rounders.

The earliest known mention of the sport is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "base-ball" (showing a similar set-up to the modern game, yet significantly different) and a rhymed description of the sport.

The earliest known American reference to the game was published in a 1791 bylaw. The city statute proclaimed that the playing of baseball was prohibited within 80 yards of the new meeting house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

The English novelist Jane Auten made a reference to children playing "base-ball" on a village green in her book Northanger Abbey, which was written between 1798 and 1803 (though not published till 1818).

The first full documentation of a baseball game in North America was that made by Dr. Adam Ford describing a baseball game that took place on June 4th, 1838 in Beechville, Ontario, Canada. Canada was a hotbed of early baseball development. Baseball grew quickly on both sides of the US-Canada border with strong players and teams in both countries.

Alexander Cartwright had a hand in compiling and publishing an early list of rules in 1845 (the so-called Knickerbocker Rules) to meet the demands of the already popular sport, and today's have evolved from them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball

Related Articles