For a long time, Americans thought baseball started around the middle of the 18th century near Cooperstown, New York, but in recent times, baseball historians have pushed the origins back to England, perhaps as early as 1744.
It has been documented in the United States since at least the 1830s, although not in the form we currently enjoy.
The National League was founded in 1876, and the American League in 1901.
More than 25,000 players have gone through the Majors, and we’re not sure if that counts
the Negro Leagues, so it seems reasonable to add at least 5-10,000 to that.
With all those players, and in all those years, you’d think baseball would have seen it all by now, but it has not. Because no one has ever done what Joshua Baez did Saturday.
In his first at-bat in the majors – shoot, in his first pitch – Baez launched a home run. Then he did it again in his second at-bat, and again in his third.
He could become a footnote. He could flame out like Raleigh native Josh Hamilton, who lost much of his career to cocaine and alcohol. Any number of things might keep him from reaching his potential.
Whatever happens, though, he will leave the game doing something that Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, and thousands upon thousands of other players never did. And that’s pretty cool.
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