History of Baseball Part 2 of 3
I
A Brief History of Baseball:
Part 2 of 3: The first 100 years
Professional baseball was built on the foundation of the amateur leagues that
preceded it. Interest in baseball as a spectator sport had been nourished for
more than 25 years when the first professional league began operation. The
National Association fielded nine teams in 1871, and grew to 13 teams by 1875.
The National Association was short-lived. The presence of gamblers undermined
the public confidence in the games, and their presence at the games combined
with the sale of liquor quickly drove most of their crowds away. Following the
1875 season, the National Association was replaced with the National League.
Previously, players had owned the teams and run the games, but the National
League was to be run by businessmen. They established standards and policies for
ticket prices, schedules, and player contracts.
The businessmen demonstrated that professional baseball could be successful, and
a rival league soon emerged. In 1882, the American Association started to
compete with reduced ticket prices and teams in large cities. Rather than fight
each other, the two leagues reached an accord, ratifying a National Agreement.
It called for teams in both major leagues and all of the minor leagues to honor
each other’s player contracts. In addition, the agreement allowed each team to
bind a certain number of players with the Reserve Clause. This clause granted
teams the rights to unilaterally renew a player’s contract, preventing him
from entertaining other offers.
Needless to say, this infuriated the players. In 1884, they tried to form their
own league, the Union Association. Many players left their teams for the freedom
of the Union Association, but the league lasted only one season. The teams lost
too much money to attempt a second season. Another attempt was made in 1890,
when the Players League was formed. Most of the best players from the American
Association and National League joined, but like its predecessor, the Players
League went bankrupt after one season. The competition and loss of players
forced the American Association to fold, too, with four of its best teams
joining the National League.
The turn of the century brought another challenger, the American League, which
started play in 1901. They raided most of the National League’s best players.
In their attempt to meet the challenge, the National League owners turned on
each other. A court injunction impaneled a three-man commission to run the
league, and they found a way for the two-leagues to co-exist peacefully.
Through the first decade of the twentieth century, baseball remained a game of
strategy. The so-called “dead ball” provided few homeruns. The game relied
on contact-hitters, bunting, and base-stealing for its offense. The adoption of
a ball with a cork center in 1911 change the game dramatically. Forty years of
batting records began to fall, and the popularity of the game began to explode.
In 1914, yet another rival league tried to gain a foothold. The Federal League
sought to establish its presence both on the field and in the courtroom. They
sued, contending that the American and National Leagues constituted a monopoly.
While the case languished in the legal system, the Federal League folded after
just two seasons. In 1922, the Supreme Court settled the matter by ruling that
baseball was exempt from anti-trust legislation. The Court unanimously
acknowledged and confirmed baseball’s monopoly.
The Roaring Twenties were a great time for the United States and for baseball. A
huge gambling scandal in 1919 brought sweeping reforms, and in the nation’s
largest city, a legend was born. George “Babe” Ruth had been a successful
pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, but the New York Yankees bought his contract
and made him an outfielder. He was the most tremendous hitter the league had
ever seen. Ruth revolutionized the game with his prowess as a homerun hitter. He
ushered in an era of economic prosperity for baseball, and became one of the
most popular individuals in American history.
Like other American men, a large percentage of ballplayers entered the armed
forces during World War two. The forties were a difficult time for baseball, but
a new era beckoned. Although it was not a written rule, baseball had always been
racially segregated. In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, joining
the Brooklyn Dodgers. But integration was a very slow process. Other teams were
slow to adopt African-American and other minority players. It was another ten
years before all of the teams had integrated , and it wasn’t until the early
sixties that professional baseball could truly call itself integrated.
In 1960, yet another rival league appeared. Although a handful of teams had
moved, most of them were concentrated in the northeast. Large cities in the
south and west wanted teams of their own. The Continental League sought to win
in court before they had a chance to go bankrupt on the field. Faced with the
possibility of losing their monopoly, major league owners reached a compromise.
They would agree to expand, growing from 16 teams to 24 by the end of the
decade.
The players loved this, because expansion meant more jobs. Baseball prospered
economically, as attendance continued to grow and national television and radio
contracts brought in huge amounts of money. Soon, the players began to see that
the owners were not sharing the wealth. Salaries had remained stagnant for many
years, and the players were still bound by the reserve clause. Although they had
a union, its only real function was to administer the meager pension former
players received. Seeing the success of organized labor in the auto industry and
the steel industry, the players decided to put some teeth into their union.
After nearly a hundred years, the players wanted to regain some control of the
game. And they would get it.
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