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The diary of Princeton student, John Rhea Smith, makes the first explcit referance to baseball. "A fine day, play baste ball ball in the campus but beaten for I miss both catching and striking the ball," the entry reads.
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There are many folkgames that people believe baseball could have originated from. Many of these games date all the way back to the 1300s. Many of the games varied from town to town and the rules weren't written. Books started being published with the rules similar to what we see today around 1830. In 1834, the most famous copy of the rules for baseball were published in Robin Carver's book, The Book of Sports. Copies of the book can sell for $12,000.
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The first recorded game of baseball in North America took place in Beachville, Ontario.A first hand account of the game, complete with the rules, was printed in 1886 in a magazine called The Sporting Life.
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The first known professional team was founded in Cincinnati.
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The Black Sox Scandal refers to the 1919 World Series. The game was in between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. The White Sox lost. Later eight out of the nine payer were accused of losing intentioanlly for money and were banned from playing for life.
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Babe Ruth is widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball hero of all time. He had a twenty two season career and broke many records. The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted him in 1939.
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In the early 1900s, major baseball leagues were segregated by color. In 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers started Jackie Robinson on first base. This is wisely regarded as the beginning of the end of segregation in baseball.
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Stories from previous players and data suggests that before steroids were banned, they were frequently used to enhance players performance. They were added to the MLB's list of banned substances in 1991.
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The Sandlot was one of the many films released in the now classic American trope of boyhood baseball movies. It helped found the trope and is still considered a classic today.
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Our hometown team, the Royals, won the world series in 2015. It was a huge deal. School was even cancelled for it!
