America’s Favorite Pastime: A Quick Timeline of Baseball History
Play ball! The 2026 baseball season just kicked off, but did you ever wonder how America’s favorite pastime began and when? Its roots stretch deep into America’s history, identity, culture, and language.
Here’s a way-too-brief timeline of historic moments, featuring immortal figures like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, along with championship teams that helped transform the game into America’s favorite pastime.
1838: The First Game Ever
On June 4, teams from Oxford and Zorra townships played in Beachville, Ontario, in what’s now recognized as the first documented “base ball” game in North America.
1876: National League Founded
The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was established with eight charter members: the Chicago White Stockings, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, New York Mutuals, St. Louis Brown Stockings, Cincinnati Reds, and Louisville Grays.
1901: American League Founded
The “Junior Circuit” took shape with eight original clubs: the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Americans, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators.
1903: Birth of Major League Baseball
The “National Agreement” between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) led to the formation of Major League Baseball (MLB). The AL’s Boston Americans defeated the NL’s Pittsburgh Pirates 5–3 in the first modern World Series.
1908: Cubs Win!
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The Chicago Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. It would take 108 years for the Cubs to win another championship.
1919: Black Sox Scandal
Eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of conspiring with gamblers and gangsters to intentionally lose the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. The players were acquitted in court, but Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s first commissioner, banned them from MLB in 1921.
1919: Babe Sold to the Yankees
Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold superstar pitcher/outfielder Babe Ruth’s contract to the New York Yankees in December. Ruth went on to win four World Series over his next 15 seasons with the Yankees. The “Curse of the Bambino” was born, as Boston would not win another championship that century.
1920: The Negro Leagues
With MLB racially segregated by unwritten rules, one of the first organizations for Black players, the Negro National League, was established. Other Negro Leagues formed in the 1920s and ’30s, until the integration of MLB led to their decline.
1932: Babe Calls His Shot
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New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth appeared to point to center field before hitting a booming home run to that spot during Game 3 of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
1936: Baseball Hall of Fame’s First Class
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America and a special committee selected Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson as the first five Hall of Famers. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated in Cooperstown, New York, in 1939.
1939: The Iron Horse
New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, winner of six World Series, finished his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. He was diagnosed with a terminal neurodegenerative disease and retired. On July 4, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, Gehrig announced, “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
1941: Williams and DiMaggio Set Marks
Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams finished the season with a .406 batting average, the last MLB player to hit .400 or better. New York Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio set baseball’s mark for the longest hitting streak at 56 consecutive games.
1947: Jackie Robinson Breaks Color Barrier
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Racial integration in MLB began when Jackie Robinson appeared for the NL’s Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field on April 15. On July 5, Larry Doby broke the AL’s color barrier when he debuted with the Cleveland Indians.
1951: Shot Heard ’Round the World
The Brooklyn Dodgers completed an epic collapse when the New York Giants stormed back in August to force a three-game playoff for the NL pennant. In the ninth inning of the deciding Game 3, the Giants’ Bobby Thomson hit a game-winning three-run home run off Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca. “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” yelled jubilant Giants radio announcer Russ Hodges in one of baseball’s most famous calls.
1958: Baseball Goes West
The Brooklyn Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, and the New York Giants moved to San Francisco. It marked the beginning of a decade of MLB expansion, with the Los Angeles Angels joining the AL in 1961 and the New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s joining the NL the following year.
1961: Maris Hits 61* Homers
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New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth’s record for home runs when he hit No. 61 in the final game of the season. Since the AL had expanded to a 162-game season and Ruth’s record was established during a 154-game season, Maris’ mark was unofficially denoted with an asterisk.
1969: The Amazin’ Mets
In MLB’s first season of divisional play, the eight-year-old New York Mets broke through with their first winning season, their first NL East Division title, and their first World Series championship.
1973: The Designated Hitter
To increase scoring and attendance, the AL instituted the designated hitter rule, in which a player could bat in place of the pitcher. The NL eventually adopted the rule in 2020.
1973: Nolan Ryan’s Reign
California Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan threw his first two no-hitters in 1973. He would finish his 27-year Hall of Fame career with a record seven games with zero hits allowed.
1974: Hammerin’ Hank Hits 715
Everett Collection
The Atlanta Braves’ Hank Aaron surpasses Babe Ruth on the career home runs list when he hits No. 715 on April 8. Aaron would finish his career in 1976 with 755 home runs.
1977: Mr. October
Outfielder Reggie Jackson was part of the Oakland A’s teams that won three straight World Series from 1972-74, and his arrival with the New York Yankees in ’77 makes the “Bronx Zoo” a must-see attraction. Jackson hit three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series to clinch the Yankees’ first title since 1962.
1985: Pete Rose Hits Past Ty Cobb
The Cincinnati Reds’ Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s career hits record with 4,192. Rose would finish his playing career in 1986 with 4,256. It’s later discovered that Rose had bet on baseball, including Reds games, as both a player and a manager, leading to his lifetime ban from baseball in 1989.
1994: World Series Canceled
Labor issues plague MLB throughout the season, which came to a halt in August when the players went on strike. Commissioner Bud Selig announces on September 14 that the remainder of the regular season and the postseason are canceled. It’s the first year without a World Series since 1904.
1995: Cal Ripken Jr. Surpasses Lou Gehrig
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Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. played his 2,131st consecutive game, which broke Lou Gehrig’s 56-year-old record. Ripken’s streak would end in 1998 at 2,632 consecutive games.
1996: Derek Jeter Arrives
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter earned AL Rookie of the Year honors and helped the Bronx Bombers win their first World Series since 1978. “The Captain” would guide the Yankees to four more titles over his 20-year career.
1998: The Great Home Run Race
The St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa electrify baseball as both players chased Roger Maris’ single-season home run record. McGwire broke the record with his 62nd home run on Sept. 8, and finished the season with 70. The accomplishments have since been tarnished by revelations of rampant performance-enhancing drug use during this era.
2001: Barry Bonds Hits 73
San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds broke Mark McGwire’s record of 70 home runs in a season, finishing with 73. Bonds would go on to break Hank Aaron’s career home run record in 2007, eventually finishing as the all-time leader with 762. Under the cloud of steroid use, Bonds would not be voted into the Hall of Fame.
2001: Baseball Helps America Heal
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush rallied the nation by throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the World Series on October 30.
2004: Curse of the Bambino Broken
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The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series championship in 86 years by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game sweep, ending the infamous Curse of the Bambino.
2016: Cubs Win Again!
One of the longest championship droughts in pro sports history ended as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in an epic, 10-inning Game 7 of the World Series.
2018: The Age of Ohtani Begins
Japanese pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels and won AL Rookie of the Year award. After being named AL MVP twice by unanimous vote, Ohtani signed a record $700 million deal to join the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2024, leading them to a World Series win. The Dodgers won the pennant, again, in 2025.
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Baseball
May 2024
Celebrate America's pastime and favorite game in film, iconic moments, best players & more!
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