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Baseball Paintings Gallery |
Choosin' Up
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Choosin' Up
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Choosin' Up
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Enter Gallery
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Gallery Description
Baseball is said to have originated from the English game of rounders. It began to become popular during the early 19th century. Many small teams and baseball clubs were formed during this time. It was in 1845 that Alexander Cartwright formalized the rules for playing, much of which is still in place today. The first recorded baseball contest was held at Elysian fields, New Jersey where Cartwright’s Knickerbockers lost to the New York baseball club.
The number of clubs came down during the Civil war, but the enthusiastic soldiers carried baseball to many other parts of the country. Most of the teams were made of amateurs until in 1969, the Cincinnati Red Stockings formed a professional team. This team scored many victories over a short period forcing the amateur teams to fade off. National league was established in 1875 to bring in professionalism to the game and to the players. Many leagues and associations came and went without an inkling of professionalism or integrity. In 1911, people started using a ball with a cork center. Forty years of batting records began to be broken and the popularity of the game soared.
The 1920s saw the making of a star, George “Babe” Ruth. He was the most tremendous hitter the league had ever seen and he began to revolutionize the game with his prowess as a homerun hitter. Baseball as a game always had some amount of racial segregation. Jackie Robinson was responsible for breaking the color barrier by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
The following years saw the game of baseball wallowing in a number of labor problems, strikes and internal problems. Baseball fell in popularity compared to the other games due to these troubles. The excitement of baseball continues with teams like the White Sox, Anaheim Angels, Kansas City Royals, Red Sox and many other teams all over US thrilling the baseball enthusiasts throughout the season.
See our exclusive gallery of baseball paintings featuring world famous artists like Norman Rockwell.
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Saturday, July, 5 th
2008
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