Baseball In The Late 1800s

The late 1800’s was a time of mass progression for the United States. The west and east coast were finally connected through the completion of the railroad, making businesses and travel spread throughout the nation. Large corporations formed, the age of steel came about -- making cities more compact and vertical like the modern day, and there was a class breakdown economically making once lower-class individuals have a say in the market, forming the middle class. With all this new growth added to the economy, people finally could have leisure money to spend and some businessmen took notice and tried something that would later change the way Americans and soon the world consumed sports. If we look at the year 1859 we can see the pioneers of the professional baseball. It was an All-Star game between New York and Brooklyn, it was in a enclosed field and viewers payed to watch the game. Soon this wave known as “Professionalism” came sweeping over baseball as a whole. These “clubs” as they were called before, started to seek out the best possible players, charging admission to watch them play in their private fields they built. Though illegal at the time, most clubs began paying their players and once this happened the once great fraternal clubs became something of an

Considered less barbaric and honorable, they were basically modern boxing rules and players wore gloves instead of open fists. An already famous individual known as John L. Sullivan made a name for himself by fighting under Queensbury rules. Already famous for prize fighting in the early 1800s, he monitzed his athletic ability by touring and promoting in different cities around the country, challenging people to a fight or organizing one if no one challenged. He pioneered the idea at the individual level and people took up to the idea, creating the boxing community. To most historians Sullivan was the first modern