Baseball: The Greatest Game of All

Baseball—the Greatest Game of All, our national pastime, the generational common denominator, the beautiful game one can relax and enjoy, time and time again, a sport that has changed very little in well over a hundred years. Rich in colorful history and packed with number crunching stats—today's ballplayers are often compared to those of yesteryear. Most everyone would agree, the challenge of squaring up ball with a round bat—while the ball is moving, in three different directions at once—is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports. The best players of the game fail at hitting two-thirds of the time. But when they do succeed, thousands—sometimes millions—of excited fans join in the celebration!

Baseball has a mythical origin—the story and mystique of the games architect revolves around Abner Doubleday. As the story goes, Albert Goodwill Spalding and his appointed "Mills Commission" were seeking an American origin for baseball. They ended up endorsing a cockamamie story published in 1939 by Abner Graves. Graves happened to attend a school near Cooperstown, New York, with Doubleday. Graves claims of seeing drawings by Doubleday depicting a ballfield and some written baseball rules. Apparently, that story was good enough for the Baseball Hall of Fame to call Cooperstown it's home. As Santa Claus is to Christmas or the Easter Bunny is to Easter, Abner Doubleday is to baseball. Simply put, the beginning of baseball is complicated.

Whether it's watching your favorite team in the local park or playing catch with your dad in the yard, the love of baseball has been shared from generation to generation. It helps build a unique bond between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren. Friends enjoy playing baseball, watching games together, reminiscing about plays and those no-hitters and walk-off home runs during the playoffs. These all fueled the excitement and wonder that is baseball.

The game of baseball has even affected American language. It's now common to hear all sorts of baseball expressions in politics, business and conversations: step up to the plate, he knocked it out of the park, didn't get to first base, swing for the fences, that crazy idea is out of left field, struck out on that one. And, let's not forget those single word idioms: beanball, closed her, curveball, grandstanding, hardball, wheelhouse. The list goes on.

Today, baseball is as popular as ever and is much more accessible. All Major League Baseball games are readily available on television and digital devices. Each of the thirty Major League teams have three or four minor league teams in small towns across the nation. Independent leagues are also checkered across the states. College baseball is huge and culminates each season in Omaha, Nebraska, with a championship tournament. Little League baseball is played around the world. The Little League World Series is played every August in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Every four years an international baseball tournament called The World Baseball Classic is held and is composed of teams from 16 different countries.

When it comes to a game that's played locally on ballfields across the United States, or globally by millions of people, America's beloved baseball is woven into the cultural fabric of this great nation. With its rich history and bright future, baseball is truly... The Greatest Game of All!

Ever since baseball became an organized sport in America, there’s been a demand for cool baseball T-shirts, baseball novelties, and music dedicated to the greatest game. Our baseball merchandise store helps those who are looking to buy baseball gear online! Click here to shop all our cool baseball stuff today! We'll see you at the ballpark!