Baseball has changed so much since it was first invented. American baseball was formed from cricket, which is a British game. The British game was called “rounders”. This game was a favorite pastime in the 1700s. Alexander Joy Cartwright is credited with the development of baseball. He came up with a baseball field in which we use a similar one today. Of course, things have been changed since then. He founded the baseball field in 1845. Also, he came up with some rules of the game. Baseball was a sport that was a leisure activity for rich white males. Baseball became more popular after the Civil War. Soldiers came back from fighting and introduced the sport of baseball into their cities where people would watch and then play. It didn’t take very long for people to catch on to the rules. People became better and better at playing the sport after being involved in many games.

Baseball began to be noticed by the National Association. The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first pro team in 1869. Other teams developed and rivaled after the Red Stockings because they were the first team. The first World Series featured the National and American League teams playing each other. They didn’t have all the equipment as we do today. Baseball wasn’t as fair as it is today. Blacks couldn’t play until 1947. That’s when Jackie Robinson became a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the color barrier. Baseball evolving and equipment evolving go hand in hand.

The first baseball was made of horsehide with a rubber core. The ball was in size somewhere between a golf ball and a softball. The Spalding Sporting Goods Company was given the rights to make the first league ball which weighed five ounces. The ball is not the same ball we use today. That ball produced few home runs and also low scores. The Reach Sporting Goods Company came up with a ball that was much livelier. It contained a cork in the center of the ball that allowed a hit ball to travel much further. As expected, more runs were scored and pitchers tried out new pitches. Now, cowhide is used instead of horsehide because of economical reasons.

There are many baseball bats nowadays. They originally came in different shapes and sizes too but they are not up to par as the ones that are made now. Baseball players ended up using rounded barrel bats after they experimented with different kinds. Baseball bats had to have 2.5 inches in their diameter but could be of any length. This was in 1859. A decade later, the bats could be a max of 42 inches long at the most. This is currently the max today.

The catcher often used leather work gloves that didn’t have full fingers to catch balls. They added padding to minimize and avoid injuries. The catcher was the first person on the field to wear a glove. This makes sense because of the wear and tear they would endure without one.

Equipment has evolved over time. Ideas were taken and made into top-notch equipment that is available today. Even now, the popular equipment has added technology to make it even better.