This was my favorite chapter in our reading so far. It seemed like every few minutes, I would stop and think “wow,” that’s really cool. I was with one of my roommates and I made her listen to some of the interesting facts I would read about.
The first thing I found funny were the names of the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Chicago White Stockings; amazing that they are now known as the White Sox and Red’s; what a big change in names. I’d love to find out how the names came to change; I can’t imagine having to call the teams the Red or White stockings!
I liked reading about Albert Spalding and finding out about his modest sports equipment, only to think about the multi-billion dollar company we know today.
I couldn’t get over all the differences in the original game and leagues compared to today. Originally the American League was called the American Association or the “Beer Ball League” which I think is so funny because I can’t imagine going to a baseball game and not hearing “beer here!” A baseball game would not be as fun without the beer, peanuts, and fun we have today.
Who could believe Toledo had a major league team at one time? Not to mention that they had Moses Fleetwood Walker, the real first black baseball player.
I can’t believe during the 1870’s and 1880’s that they leagues actually instituted different rule changes just to attract more fans. I guess that’s what has to be done at the beginning of a sport; they need to build a fan base. I couldn’t imagine MLB just deciding to change some rules for no reason other than to attract fans.
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I want to comment on your observation about baseball changing rules just to attract more fans. Even today, I believe that rule changes are made not only to attract more fans but also to accommodate television. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, some rule changes were made in baseball to add more offense. For example, the American League added the DH (designated hitter) so the pitcher would not have to hit and there could be more offense. Other changes were made to the height of the mound and the strike zone, so that the pitcher would not be able to dominate as much. Of course, with all the home runs that were hit in the past 10 years, there was speculation that the balls were juiced. Who knew that it was really the players who were juiced--not the balls!
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