While a popular legend credits Abner Doubleday with inventing baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York, historians believe it evolved over time from older English bat-and-ball games like rounders and cricket.
Baseball has been a platform for profound social change. In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today, his number, 42, is retired across all of Major League Baseball (MLB) as a mark of universal respect. How We Watch: From Radio to Global Streaming watch baseball
The sport's structure solidified in the late 1800s with the formation of the National League (1876) and the American League (1901). The two leagues initially fought a "baseball war" before establishing a truce in 1903, leading to the creation of the first World Series. While a popular legend credits Abner Doubleday with