The Evolution of Baseball Equipment
Evolution of Baseball Equipment
Baseball is a sport that our nation has loved and enjoyed since the early nineteenth century. I have played baseball for as long as I can remember, and the game has become a passion of mine. As I am passionate about the sport, I have begun to wonder where the equipment we have today has come from. How did we get to pristine gloves and flawless bats? There a five main pieces of equipment used by a baseball player, and all of which today have been modified to perfection. The five pieces of equipment would be the glove, used to field the ball, a bat, used to hit the ball, catcher’s equipment, worn to protect the catcher, cleats, used to increase traction, and of course the baseball. The progression I have seen in my lifetime is unbelievable and I cannot imagine all of the progress that has been made since baseball originally came to America.
Baseball, like most other American culture, is derived from another country. An English game called rounder’s, which is significantly close to baseball, is believed to the basis of American baseball. Baseball was officially formalized in 1845 when Alexander Cartwright wrote the first set of rules. There is a legend that a man named Abner Doubleday was the inventor of baseball, but many baseball historians disagree. Cartwright created the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York City, and the game began to gain popularity in the northern part of the country. During the civil war, Union prisoners would play baseball in Confederate camps and teach the southerners how to play. (RPI.EDU) The game was then spread all over the country and its popularity has soared to the magnitude it is today.
The most important piece of equipment in the game is by far the baseball. No other piece of equipment carry’s the responsibility of the ball, because the game itself depends on the ball. The baseball was originally made on a custom order basis, very different from today’s mass production.
Baseball is a sport that our nation has loved and enjoyed since the early nineteenth century. I have played baseball for as long as I can remember, and the game has become a passion of mine. As I am passionate about the sport, I have begun to wonder where the equipment we have today has come from. How did we get to pristine gloves and flawless bats? There a five main pieces of equipment used by a baseball player, and all of which today have been modified to perfection. The five pieces of equipment would be the glove, used to field the ball, a bat, used to hit the ball, catcher’s equipment, worn to protect the catcher, cleats, used to increase traction, and of course the baseball. The progression I have seen in my lifetime is unbelievable and I cannot imagine all of the progress that has been made since baseball originally came to America.
Baseball, like most other American culture, is derived from another country. An English game called rounder’s, which is significantly close to baseball, is believed to the basis of American baseball. Baseball was officially formalized in 1845 when Alexander Cartwright wrote the first set of rules. There is a legend that a man named Abner Doubleday was the inventor of baseball, but many baseball historians disagree. Cartwright created the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York City, and the game began to gain popularity in the northern part of the country. During the civil war, Union prisoners would play baseball in Confederate camps and teach the southerners how to play. (RPI.EDU) The game was then spread all over the country and its popularity has soared to the magnitude it is today.
The most important piece of equipment in the game is by far the baseball. No other piece of equipment carry’s the responsibility of the ball, because the game itself depends on the ball. The baseball was originally made on a custom order basis, very different from today’s mass production.
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