Who Is the Father of Baseball?

Almost 9 percent of Americans consider baseball their favorite game, and it makes sense if you want to know the history behind this popular sport. Stories attribute the invention of baseball and all its rules to a man called Abner Doubleday, a US Army officer, who managed to set this game’s rules in 1839. Nevertheless, the real story of this sport goes way earlier. So, let’s learn more about it. 

The Father of Baseball: Who was Abner Doubleday? 

During the American Civil War, the name Abner Doubleday became popular as he was the first to fire a shot in defense of Fort Sumter, thus starting the opening battle. He, however, also invented a game called baseball in New York when he was only 20 years old. Although he didn’t stick around to play the game as he participated in the war, baseball became America’s favorite sport. 

Surprisingly, Doubleday didn’t want to take credit for inventing this game, instead focusing on his career as a Union major general. After the war was over, he became a writer and a lawyer and didn’t discuss the details of the game with any of his acquaintances. 

Sixteen years after his demise, baseball was already becoming too popular. A sporting goods collector and a former league player wanted to dig deeper to find the origins of America’s most beloved game. A.J. Spalding wanted to know more about the game's history and its rules, and he met a mining engineer called Abner Graves. According to Graves, who went to school with Doubleday, the latter invented the main rules of the game as we know it today. 

His story appealed to baseball fans, major league officials, and Cooperstown businessmen, where baseball is said to be invented, so they promoted it. In the ‘30s, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was established, and the story stuck. 

Where Did Baseball Really Come From?

Despite the appealing story, some references date baseball to the 18th century, 100 years before Doubleday is said to have invented it. Reportedly, the game developed from two popular English games, cricket, and rounders, a children’s game. Both were brought to New England by the colonists, who added their special touch to develop a new sport. 

By the time of the American Revolution, there were multiple variations of these two games that youth played in schools and on college campuses, in addition to the newly industrialized cities. By the mid-19th century, baseball was becoming very popular. 

The New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club was founded in 1845, and Alexander Joy Cartwright played a crucial role in setting up its rules. Cartwright, a volunteer firefighter and bank clerk, set up several rules that would set the basis for what we know today as modern baseball. This includes choosing the diamond-shaped infield, setting up the foul lines, and coming up with the famous three-strike rule. He also thought that tagging runners by throwing the balls at them was too dangerous for players, so he canceled this practice. 

The first official game between a team of cricket players and the Knickerbockers took place in 1846, beginning a new era for America’s favorite sport. It seems that baseball’s history isn’t less interesting than the game itself.