Baseball or America’s Pastime has an amazing history. It originated in England, but became popular in the United States and we made the game our own. There’s a fascinating background about how the game originated and what kind of equipment the players used and how it has progressed from back then to today.

	Baseball was based on the English game of rounders. Rounders became popular in the United States in the early 19th century, where the game was called "townball", "base", or "baseball". A man names Alexander Cartwright and the New York Knickerbockers Baseball club remade and revised the rules of baseball. Alexander also created the first baseball field in 1845. In 1846 the first recorded baseball game recurred. It was Alexander’s Knickerbockers whom lost against the New York Baseball Club. It was held at Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Also, in 1858, the National Association of Base Ball Players, the first organized baseball league was formed. The Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869 became the first openly-salaried team and are considered the first professional baseball team.
	The baseball field is pretty easy to understand. If u include the outfield it is shaped like a triangle but just the infield is a diamond. There are four bases and a pitchers mound. There is first base, second base, third base, and home plate. Also, there is the pitchers mound. The outfield was filled with just grass and the infield usually was dirt sometimes there was part grass part dirt infields.
	The baseball started out as just a piece of leather filled with cloth. It was much harder to hit and didn’t go very far since there was no cork in the ball.
	The new modernized baseball uses cork in the center, then different layers of wool, then leather mixed with plastic for the covering. With its new design the ball travels much farther than the old one.
		Baseball gloves started in 1845 because of catchers having to catch the pitcher's pitches over and over again.. After a few years of the catcher using the glove it caught to other positions and everyone started using them. Baseball gloves just started as two pieces of leather sewn together then, people added a web to help catch the ball.

The first baseball was just a plain old stick. Then the baseball bat modernized and handles were put on the bats so they were easier to hold. Then another addition was made, a part of the bat was made thick so it was easier to make contact with the ball. For lower leagues other than professional there are aluminum bats that make the ball go much, much farther than a wooden bat.