Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Yes, that is me with my husband and sister-in-law. They are die hard Cubs fans and on our vacation a couple of weeks ago, we went to Turner Field in Atlanta, GA, and watched the Cubs win against the Braves. Go Cubbies.

So, what does this have to do with history? Well, I got to thinking just how long has the USA had baseball? After all, baseball along with apple pie are American signatures.

What I found, baseball has been around a lot longer than I thought. The first mention is way back in 1791  - and that was in an ordinance that banned the game from being played 80 yards from the meeting house. Apparently some people just didn't know how to have fun.

No one is really sure who invented the game, but the first team to play under baseball rules was the New York Knickerbockers in 1845. This was more a social club for the higher class. Even though that club disbanded, their rules were kept.

Union Prisoners at Salisbury North Carolina engage in a game of baseball.

Baseball was popular during the civil war. After the war, soldiers carried the love of the game with them across the growing country. So it's likely they played in their spare time and maybe got ranchers and cowboys into the game.

And by the way, one of the early clubs was the Chicago White Stockings and they won the championship in 1870. Today, that team is the Chicago Cubs. Go Cubs - maybe this is the year to win again.

We all go through tough times. So did baseball, in a sense. From 1909-1919, baseball had such stellar pichers, Cy Young being one of them, that home runs were rare. But a rule change - the pitcher can't tamper with the ball, and the introduction of certain player named, Babe Ruth, ended the Dead-Ball Era of baseball in 1919..

And what would a baseball story be without the song "Take me out to the ball game."The song is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song written by  Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer. Story goes Jack was riding a subway and saw a sign that said "Baseball Today." And 108 years later we are still singing the chorus during the seventh inning stretch.

So this summer, go ahead. Go to the ball game. Have some peanuts and crackerjacks and enjoy the great American past time.

Go Cubs!
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On the book front ~ I have a new one coming out Monday - Treasured Love -it's a contemporary  but a fun one about hidden treasure and of course romance.

** AND I'm working on Bride And Prejudice #8 in the Mail Order Brides of Hickory Stick  Series. I'm hoping to get it out in July.

Keep cool and enjoy the summer.