what year did baseball baseball become a organizing sport?
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The earliest accounts of organized baseball come from the New York Knickerbockers, formed by Alexander Cartwright September 23, 1845.  Cartwright wrote the first rules for the game, which essentially still stand today.  Here's more on the history of baseball in America from Wikipedia:
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Going back a bit in history, you could say that baseball proved that it was possible for sports to succeed economically in America, and it thus became possible for men to make a living by playing a sport. Baseball was really the first sport to do this. The first 'professional' team was the Cincinnate Reds, and they were formed in the 1860s. The National League was organized in 1876 (prior to that there was a league called, I think, the American Association, which lasted form 1871 to 1875).
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I always use wikipedia as one of my first stops when researching a new topic.  Here is wikipedia's site on Baseball:\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball\n\nThey have a few diagrams, but the exact date that baseball was invented will be hard to come by, here is wikipedia's description;\n\nAlthough the origins and evolution of the various bat-and-ball games are murky, baseball is primarily an American invention. However, many believe that it originated as an adaptation of the game of rounders, and was also influenced by the rules of cricket."\n\nAnother site you might find usefull is the 'about.com' site:\n\nhttp://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbaseball.htm\n\nIt seems to be the general consensus that Baseball was derived from the game 'rounders', and it's exact invention date is not known.  Abner Doubleday was mistakenly given credit for inventing the sport, but it is likely that he is not the true inventor.  This site has a pretty good description:\n\nhttp://www.historybuff.com/library/refearlybase.html\n\nThis is what this site says:\n\n"Tom Heitz of the National Baseball Library in Cooperstown, New York, said in a phone interview recently that the Hall of Fame recognizes September, 1845 as the time when the rules of the game we know as baseball were first set down. They were adopted by the New York Knickerbockers..."\n\nThese site may be a good starting point for getting the information you need.
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The league was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, which adopted the name "National Football League" in 1922
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In the mid 1800s when baseball became popular, it was something for people to pass what free time they had. The more industrial a society, the more free time the citizens have. Baseball's history is entwined with the proliferation of a working class who needed entertainment whether playing or cheering. They didn't have televisions or radios, and allowed different towns cities and communities to interact with one another in a social competitive environment.
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The American League instituted the DH rule before the 1973 season and Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first MLB player to officially play the postition on April 6, 1973.\n\nThe official rule states that any league may use the rule if it so chooses. The American League decided to experiment with the rule starting with the 1973 season in an effort to boost offensive production (since pitchers are traditionally poor hitters), liked it and has continued to use it. The National League (the Senior Circuit) decided to stay more traditional and has continued to make pitchers hit for themselves. The DH rule specifically states that the DH will be used in the home park of a team that regularly uses the rule (why you have DH in AL home games of a World Series) and that it will be used in an All-Star game only if both leagues agree in advance.\n\nIronically, it was the National League, not the American League, that first proposed using a DH. National League president John Heydler advocated the rule change at the annual major-league meeting in Chicago on Dec. 1, 1928. The NL owners approved the rule, but the AL rejected it, thus ending the debate on the rule until it revived in the 1970s.
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Here is a bit of info - with a link to more info below:\n\nMost cultures have some sort of stick and ball game, cricket being the most well-known. While the exact origins of baseball are unknown, most historians agree that it is based on the English game of rounders. It began to become quote popular in this country in the early 19th century, and many sources report the growing popularity of a game called "townball", "base", or "baseball".\n\nThroughout the early part of that century, small towns formed teams, and baseball clubs were formed in larger cities. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright wanted to formalize a list of rules by which all team could play. Much of that original code is still in place today. Although popular legend says that the game was invented by Abner Doubleday, baseball's true father was Cartwright.\n\nThe first recorded baseball contest took place a year later, in 1846. Cartwright's Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club in a game at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey. These amateur games became more frequent and more popular. In 1857, a convention of amateur teams was called to discuss rules and other issues. Twenty five teams from the northeast sent delegates. The following year, they formed the National Association of Base Ball Players, the first organized baseball league. In its first year of operation, the league supported itself by occasionally charging fans for admission. The future looked very bright.
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Teams struggled to make payrolls, and attendance was down.\n\nOne of the greatest teams in baseball history, the 1929-31 Philadelphia Athletics, had to be dismantled and sold off by its owner, the legendary Connie Mack, because of financial difficulties.  He had to sell or trade great players like Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane and Al Simmons.  This team won three straight American League pennants during a time when the Yankees had Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Dickey, Ruffing and Gomez. \n\nThe A's never recovered, and were a second division club until long after Mack died in the early 50's.  They didn't become a consistent winner again until they moved to Oakland, and won three straight World Series in the early 70's.
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The NL was the first league, playing in the late 1800s. A bunch of teams formed the AL in 1900-1901 as a rival league. As baseball expanded, they added teams where it made the most sense. For instance, the Seattle Mariners are in the AL because the old Seattle Pilots were in the AL. In other cases, an area (like L.A.) would already have an NL team, so they added an AL team (the Angels) because they didn't want two teams in the same league so close together. That's why the two Florida teams are in different leagues, for instance.
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Baseball around the world is played under three major rules codes, which differ only slightly. The North American professional leagues and many amateur leagues use the Official Baseball Rules, which are published to the public by The Sporting News; U.S. collegiate and college-age play is often covered by the baseball rulebook of the NCAA; and U.S. high school and high school-age baseball is governed by the NFHS rules. IBAF international teams, most leagues outside North America, and youth baseball organizations such as Little League, PONY League, and Cal Ripken League all play under slightly modified versions of the Official Baseball Rules.\n\nUnlike many other sports, the Official Baseball Rules have remained largely static during the modernization of the game. This is evidenced in much esoteric or awkward language in the rulebook; also, rules experts such as Chris Jaksa and Rick Roder have identified over 50 outright errors in the book, mostly concerning rare or subtle differences. Many baseball players, fans, and administrators view the rules and traditions of professional baseball as time-tested and nearly sacrosanct. The designated hitter rule, first introduced to play over 30 years ago in 1973, is still subject to lively debate and has been adopted by only one of the two American major leagues—though almost all other leagues around the world have adopted it. In fact, NFHS rules allow the designated hitter to bat for any position. In contrast to the Official Baseball Rules, the NFHS is continually refining and updating its rule book to meet the needs of the United States high school game. The NCAA updates its rulebook less often the NFHS, but still more current.\n\nIn Japan, if a regular-season game is tied after nine innings, only three extra innings may be played. The accepted codes of etiquette also differ in Japanese baseball, though these are not written in official rules.\n\nOther major differences often center around additional safety rules. Most amateur leagues prohibit malicious contact by runners, are stricter on interference calls, and require double-earflap helmets.\n\nFor an overview of the rules themselves, see Main article: baseball, the baseball rules category below, or each individual rule book
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The bunt was introduced into the game by Dickey Pearce of the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1866, but was not common until the 1880s, and was not an accepted part of baseball strategy until the 20th century
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England.  I borrowed this from another answer: 'The earliest known mention of the sport is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "base-ball," showing a set-up roughly similar to the modern game, and a rhymed description of the sport.'\n\nIn the United States, the rules were first codified in 1845.  It is based on two English games, rounders and cricket.  There are references to baseball in the USA going back to 1791.  Baseball as we know it was also once called the "New York" game, there being a variant more like cricket that was called the "Massachusetts" game.  Nonetheless, these developments were American in origin.\n\nChina isn't even in the running.  There wasn't even that much direct trade with China when baseball was developed, though it was growing.  India was the big market.  Whatever the Chinese were playing, it was their own game, not baseball, which was introduced later.
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Connie Mack, manager/owner of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901-1950.  Because he was not in uniform, he was not allowed on the field during games, only the dugout - other coaches had to go out to give roster changes.
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The first recorded use of "inning" in association with sport was recorded in 1738 as, "a teams turn in a game".  It was later popularized in the game of Cricket.  The team in the field was considered the "out" team.  The team at bat was considered.  the "in" team.  Back in the 1850s it was incorporated into the game of baseball.
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Cricket by a long way. In it's modern form it can be dated back at least until the 1660's, but probably until the 13th century. There is now evidence to suggest a similar game was even played in ancient Rome!\nAs for baseball, the earliest known mention of the sport is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "base-ball". Rounders was actually only codified in the 1840's, so it is hard to say if baseball came from Rounders or not.
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Main article: History of baseball \nThe origins and evolution of the various bat-and-ball games are murky, and many believe that baseball is primarily an American invention. However, because of the similarity in its most basic form, of its rules and game-play, it is far more likely that it originated as an adaptation of the game of English rounders, vigaro and town ball. It was also influenced by the rules of cricket.\n\n \n1886 baseball demonstration at Conner Prairie living history museum.The first explicit references to baseball appear to come from England. The earliest known mention of the sport is in a 1744 publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "baseball" (showing a similar set-up to the modern game) and a rhymed description of the sport. Also, a British letter dating from 1748 by Lady Hervey describes how the then Prince of Wales diverted his time playing baseball. The English author Jane Austen specifically mentions the game of baseball in her novel, Northanger Abbey, being played by the protagonist, Catherine Moreland. The book was first written in 1798 and revised until publication in 1803.\n\nAlexander Cartwright had a hand in compiling and publishing an early list of rules in 1845 (the so-called Knickerbocker Rules) to meet the demands of the already popular sport, and today's rules of baseball have evolved from them.\n\nAs far back as the 1870s, American newspapers were referring to baseball as "The National Pastime" or "The National Game." An award-winning account of the origins of the game is David Block's Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game (University of Nebraska Press, 2005). The publisher's description of the book notes that "David Block looks into the early history of the game and of the 150-year-old debate about its beginnings. He tackles one stubborn misconception after another, debunking the enduring belief that baseball descended from the English game of rounders and revealing a surprising new explanation for the most notorious myth of all—the Abner Doubleday–Cooperstown story." In short, the debate on the game's origins may never be settled to everyone's satisfaction.\n\nAnother early mention of the game can be found in an 1886 edition of Sporting Life magazine, in a letter from Dr. Matthew Harris of Boston, Massachusetts, formerly of St. Marys, Ontario, Canada, who details a base ball game played in Beachville, Ontario, Canada, on June 4, 1838 -- Militia Muster Day.\n\nProfessional baseball began in the United States around 1865, and the National League was founded in 1876 as the first true major league, quickly producing famous players such as Honus Wagner. Several other major leagues formed and failed, but the American League, established in 1901 as a major league and originating from the minor Western League (1893), did succeed. While the two leagues were rivals who actively fought for the best players, often disregarding one another's contracts and engaging in bitter legal disputes, a modicum of peace was established in 1903, and they began playing a World Series that year.\n\nCompared to modern times, games in the early part of the 20th century were lower scoring and pitchers were more successful. The "inside game", whose nature was to "scratch for runs", was played rather more violently and aggressively than it is today. Ty Cobb said of his era especially, "Baseball is something like a war!" This period, which has since become known as the "dead-ball era", ended in the 1920s with several rule changes that gave advantages to hitters and the rise of the legendary baseball player Babe Ruth, who showed the world what power hitting could produce and thus changed the nature of the game.\n\nDuring the first half of the 20th century, a "gentlemen's agreement" in the form of the baseball
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Beyond a doubt it was 1994.  The arrogance of players and owners alike shut down the season early and hurt the game for several years.  Indeed, it almost killed major league baseball, and in fact did kill the Montreal Expos.\n\nThe strike-shortened 1981 season was a joke, too.  This one was mostly the owners' fault.\n\nThen there was 1968, the Year of the Pitcher, which saw Carl Yastrzemski win the AL batting title with an average of .301 (and no other qualifying batters in the AL hit .300), Denny McLain won 31 games, Bob Gibson had a 1.12 ERA and a rookie pitcher for the Mets, Jerry Koosman, had seven shutouts and a 19-2 record.\n\nFinally, the year 1944 deserves some mention, as many major leaguers served in the armed forces, and some in combat, like Warren Spahn.  Their replacements were not so talented; an athlete with a physical condition permitting deferment usually had problems playing the game, the extreme case being one-armed Pete Gray, who played in 1945.  Other players, who were too old to serve in the military, came out of retirement.  The St. Louis Browns, perennial doormats of the American League, won their only pennant that year.