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Baseball Pitching Changed The Game
One of the most amazing things happened on the way to work. Baseballfarming.com, my
website, is sending baseball zingers, nuggets, facts and humorous anecdotes to every
baseball player,fan,and anyone standing within sight or earshot of my website.
The game of baseball is pure American with the American ingenuity of taking a thought, a
phrase, a game, a habit or even your money and calling it American. Has anyone seen or
heard of this game of baseball? I have and I thought I had played the game enough, read
many books of its history and followed many heroes of the game but there is so much
about which I did not have a clue.
This thing about coming to work. An amazing thing popped into my mind. It was simply
this: ”Baseball pitchers throwing underhanded.” I had heard about it in passing
but it really did not sink in with full impact until I began my baseballfarming.com website.
Doing my homework, paying close attention to detail, the light finally came on, “Hey
those early day baseball playing heroes were really playing a girly game.”
I’m sorry but I didn’t live back in mid the 19th Century when Alexander Joy Cartwright
Jr. and his New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club began to get serious and put down
some rules and regulations so we could have a legitimate basis for claiming baseball as
being an “American game.” The thrill of competition was so strong boys, from across
towns USA, began to challenge each other and the game grew and grew and just like
’Pinnochio’s Nose” it got bigger and bigger.
So our game had it’s genesis up east around Boston and New York then spread to
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chicago. It could not be contained and was soon recognized
as ”America’s Pastime”, this game we call Baseball.”
The real kicker is that the facts, the statistics and yes, the myths surrounding the game
clouded much of the reality of it all. Many of the nitty gritty details are ignored or never
really pondered to the point of, “ This is how it is, folks!”
As I was growing up the boys played baseball and the girls played
softball. Do not get me totally wrong. Men and boys also played this game of
softball during my era around the time of World War II. Being a boy and with a tendency
of being a little bit of a male chauvinist in spirit and environment it was this way,
“Boys and baseball, Girls and softball.”
Before some of these local fellers twice my size and with the muscle to reinforce their
feelings take me to task for calling sofball a girly game let me back track some. As a
matter of fact Birmingham, Alabama and the Gulf Coast environs of Florida and Alabama
during my high school years were World leaders in Softball. Bagget Transportation
Company and 7-Up Bottling Company battled toe to toe, year-in year-out, for Softball
Supremacy. These were Industrial Corporation sponsored men’s teams and leagues that
showcased Hall Of Fame caliber softball playing.
The most significant thing ie, difference between the games evolved around the pitching.
Baseball pitchers threw the ball overhand and softball pitchers threw the ball underhand.
Not a big deal but that is simply how the games were played. Along comes dunce me
thinking that it had always been that way. Boy was I flabbergasted to learn baseball
playing was all underhanded throwing until.?
Remember our great game of baseball started with rules and regulations of play being
established by Mr Cartwright and the Knickerbockers Baseball Club well back there in
1845.
The National League was the driving force which propelled major league baseball into an
organized sport with strict rules, schedules and as a business venture with controlling
interest and motives determining the rules of play. Here is my surprising knowledge:
Starting the season of 1884 was the rule change which allowed pitchers to pitch
overhand.
Imagine from and even before 1845 until 1884, some thirty-nine (39) years, baseball was
played by rules with pitchers throwing underhand. I did not know this little bit of reality.
”Did You ?”
Batter Up----Let’s Play Ball....
Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (retired) talking all about baseball here at
http://www.baseballfarming.com. I plan to keep the baseball world of fans players and
bystanders loaded up with baseball strategies,training, and winning ideas.
About The Author Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (retired) bringing you all about baseball at http://www.baseballfarming.com. Baseballfarming is an introduction to the concept of baseball farming which includes ideas on strategies, training, and winning.
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