January 1, 1970

The first ‘officially recorded’ baseball game was played on 19 June 1846 between the ‘Knickerbockers’ and the ‘New York Nine’ at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken. The ‘Knickerbockers’, who were set up by one of the founders of modern baseball, Alexander Cartwright, lost by twenty six runs to one.

The Cincinnati Red Stockings formed in 1869 as the first professional baseball team and the National League was established in 1876. This was followed by its rival the American League in 1901 and eventually the establishment of the World Series in 1903 which pitted the two best teams from the leagues against each other.

The sport came of age in the 1920s when the home-run hero Babe Ruth led the New York Yankees to several World Series titles. On the right you can see a video of him receiving an award during the 1930s.

However baseball players were still divided by race and full racial integration would not occur until after World War Two when Jackie Robinson appeared for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. During the Second World War many players were recruited into the forces however President Roosevelt, in his ‘Green Light’ Letter, said that ‘it would be best for the country to keep baseball going’.

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copyright: British Pathé