Baseball: America’s Favorite Pastime

Have you ever sung “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” stood up for the seventh inning stretch, or caught a fly ball? If your answer is no, then you have never been to a Major League Baseball game in the United States.

Americans have been playing baseball, known as America’s “favorite pastime,” since the 1800s. Today, this national sport is a multi-billion dollar industry. While many myths exist as to exactly when people began playing baseball in the United States, it is known that the first organized baseball games occurred sometime around the turn of the 19th century. The first recorded baseball game took place in 1849, when Alexander Cartwright’s Knickerbockers played the New York Baseball Club. Baseball gained massive popularly throughout the next couple of decades, and in the 70s, the first professional baseball league was created and coordinated the first ever National League game.

Currently, the National League of Major League Baseball has held over 200,000 games and consists of thirty teams. The 2012 Major League Baseball (MBL) season, which started on April 4th, will last until October 3rd, followed by the playoffs, in which the best teams in the league will compete to earn a place in the World Series, the League Championship. In addition to the World Series, baseball fans eagerly await the All Star Game, a special game in which all of the best players of MBL come together and play side by side. The All Star Game represents the significance of baseball as a common hobby that brings people together.

Due to its universal appeal, baseball is much more than a sport in the United States; it is an important part of American culture. The most famous players of all time, such as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, are known to many as both heroes and role models. Throughout the spring and summer months, countless young people all across America participate in the Little League, High School, or College League, and baseball fields full of hopeful players and enthusiastic spectators can be found anywhere in the United States. America’s favorite pastime has something to offer for everyone, whether it is entertainment, community, or a lifetime hobby.