MLB Affiliates teams includel: The Fisher Cats, The Sea Dogs and The Lake Monsters
Professional Baseball in New England
Baseball has been considered America’s greatest pastime for over 140 years. But the game is much older than that.
The game of baseball has been played in America at least since the early 1800’s. It is believed that the game developed from other bat-and-ball games that immigrant’s brought to the new world, such as the British game Rounders. The game was called town ball, base or baseball depending on where it was played. The teams were informal and followed local rules. But that didn’t stop the game’s popularity from spreading. By the 1960’s it was known as America’s favorite pastime.
Because the original game was very informal one baseball lover set to organizing it. In 1945 a man by the name of Alexander Cartwright printed the first
widely accepted rules and regulations for the official game of baseball. He then invented the design for the modern baseball field. The first known official game was played between Cartwright’s Knickerbockers and the New York Baseball Club in 1846. By 1876 the first Major League Baseball association, called the National League, formed. And so began the modern tradition of baseball.
In 1901 the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues formed. Today this association is known as the Minor Leagues. This new association saw 14 leagues made up of 96 teams join by its opening season in 1902. The popularity of the minor leagues grew through the pre-television years, topping out in the late 1940’s. By 1949 there were 59 leagues and 448 teams involved in the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. But with the television came aired Major League games and a drastic decline in the minor leagues attendance.
Over recent years the minor leagues have seen a come back. These games have become known as a great opportunity for a day of family fun. With tickets averaging under $10 per person everywhere it is an affordable outing. The Minor League teams have become part of the community offering community and fundraisers to good causes in the surrounding areas. Most Minor League clubs offer group and party rates as well as many promotional game days. With fireworks, giveaways and one of America’s most loved games, baseball, taking ‘um out to a ball game featuring a local team is a great season event. Today the Minor League Baseball Association is made up of 20 leagues and 246 teams and averages 35 million in yearly attendance.
By Tabitha Fitzgerald
