Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Take me out to the Ball Game!

From the sandlot to stadiums seating over fifty thousand people, the game of baseball has provided people of all ages with a common foundation; a sport we can all a part of the American culture. Though its concept sounds simple, a game involving a ball and a bat, millions of people all over the world have sought involvement in it by either playing at some level, or just sitting back and watching a game. With professional baseball attracting more and more fans each year, no one knows what limits this sport can reach. Through the one hundred and five years of baseball I would say it is a major part of our culture here in America.

In the middle of the19th century baseball was primarily popular among local clubs in the Northeast, often made up of members of the same occupation. Eventually, competition broadened, and an organization to promote standardized rules and facilitate scheduling, the National Association of Baseball Players, was formed in 1858. The movement of Union soldiers during the Civil War helped to spread the game, and increased opportunities for leisure, improved communications, and easier travel after the war fostered a wider competitive base and increased interest. This association is what started baseball.

Baseball has many players who changed the way baseball has been played forever. The years between 1920 and World War II were the heyday of Babe Ruth, the game's preeminent legend. Other stars made their names as well: Ruth's durable New York Yankee teammate, Lou Gehrig; the contentious batting champion Ty Cobb; outstanding pitchers like Lefty Grovh, Dizzy Deah, and Walter Johnson; graceful Yankee center fielder Joe DiMaggio; and sluggers Hank Greenberg and Jimmie Foxh, among others. Fans flocked to the large stadiums built in the 1920s. I believe these players made the players we have today. These players are sports legends because they way the played. They gave baseball its name.

By the fall of 1942 many men over the age of 18 had been drafted in the war. Which meant baseball could no longer go because many of the players were being sent off to war. With that the All American Girls baseball team emerged in the spring of 1943. That's how hooked the American society was to baseball. They did not want to see baseball fall, so while the men