Baseball: Difference between revisions

Often called "America's National Pastime," the [[Game of Nerds]], and -- in Japan -- ''Yakyu'' (lit. "field ball"), baseball is a sport that is ([[Take That|despite what the International Olympic Committee thinks]]) played throughout the world, although it only has a large spectator base in the Americas and eastern Asia. For basic rules and such see [[The Other Wiki]].

 

The Origin of Baseball is something of a [[Multiple Choice Past]]. The traditional story (sponsored by [[Word of God|Albert Spalding]] at the turn of the 20th century) is that it was created in 1839 by a young Abner Doubleday in his hometown of Cooperstown, New York. Since Doubleday would grow up to be a general during the Civil War, this played well with the [[Patriotic Fervor]] of the day. However, it was also based upon [[Blatant Lies]] told by an old man and doesn't really hold up. At all. Respected sports journalist Henry Chadwick offered his counter belief that Baseball had simply evolved from the earlier bat-and-ball games in the English tradition, such as Rounders or possibly [[Cricket]]. The earliest known written rules that resemble modern baseball can be traced to New York man Alexander Cartwright, who wrote the "Knickerbocker rules" in 1845. Of course, there are even older claims, as a document found from 1791 was found in the New England Town of Pittsfield that mentions the game (specifically in the context of it being banned anywhere in the vicinity of the town hall's expensive glass windows). The general consensus is that the game wasn't born anywhere or at any single time, it probably slowly developed over centuries until it finally started resembling the modern game some time in the 1800s.

 

Baseball was first dubbed America's "national pastime" or "national game" sometime in the 1850s. And while it has not been the most popular team sport in surveys since [[The Sixties]] or [[The Seventies]] (fallen behind [[American Football]]), it is still consistently near the top (almost always no. 2, at worst no. 3, usually behind [[basketball]]) in those surveys. It is also telling that the yearly attendance for Major League Baseball is more than ''every other Major North American Sports League combined'' (although this is partially because Baseball has a longer schedule -- starting from late March/early April and usually ending at the end of September for the regular season and the end of October for the World Series). It has also left a imprint on America's culture that has manifested itself in America's [[wikipedia:English language idioms derived from baseball|language]], [[wikipedia:Baseball movie#Baseball|entertainment]] and, perhaps most tellingly, [[wikipedia:Baseball Metaphor|sexual activities]]. Important historic players such as Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson are often used as metaphor when describing players in sports or countries that Americans are not as familiar with ("The Babe Ruth of Soccer" or the "Jackie Robinson of Japan").

 

The near-undisputed top professional league in the world is the USA's [http://mlb.com Major League Baseball]. With 30 teams (29 in the United States, one in Canada) and players that come from (as of the opening day of the 2009 season) about 16 different countries or territories (sometimes more, sometimes less). Unless you live in Asia or Cuba, this is the level of competition that the average ballplayer is striving for, and it is also known as [[I Have Many Names|MLB, the Major Leagues, the Big Leagues, the Majors, the Bigs, the Show, and sometimes just "Baseball"]].

 

* The village of Cooperstown, New York is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, established in 1939 to enshrine the history of the game and the men who played it. Each year a handful of retired players are selected by committee for induction into the Hall, and thereafter known as "Hall of Famers". Players must have been retired for at least five years before gaining eligibility to join the Hall, though this requirement can be waived in the rare case of a player who dies while still active - Roberto Clemente, who died in a 1972 plane crash, was inducted the next year.

** Various team executives, managers, coaches, and umpires have also been enshrined in the Hall, and there are annual awards for the game's journalists and broadcasters (who are not technically Hall members, but are often regarded by the public as such).

 

== MLB Awards ==

* The '''Gold Glove Award''' goes to the top defensive players in the game. Unlike the above awards, they are voted on by the managers and coaches in each league as opposed to the baseball writers. Each league awards nine Gold Gloves, one at each fielding position. Since fielding excellence tends to be measured by a lot of intangibles rather than pure statistics, the Gold Gloves frequently spark debate; the most common criticism of the award process is that they are often awarded based on reputation, without regard as to whether the player truly had a better year in the field than his peers.

* The '''Silver Slugger Award''' goes to the top offensive player at each position. Like the Gold Gloves, they are voted on by each league's managers and coaches rather than the baseball writers. Silver Slugger awards are slightly different from Gold Glove awards; due to the American League's use of the designated hitter, the award for AL pitchers (who do not hit) is replaced with one for designated hitters.

 

== Historical people to know in MLB ==