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This virtual exhibit is made possible in part by a grant from Illinois Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.

Baseball has roots in two sports brought to America by colonists—rounders and cricket. By the 1840s, rules were codified for this loosely organized game, which was readily adapted to any terrain and momentary gathering of players. 1850’s New York went mad for baseball, and it was deemed the country’s “national pastime.” Modern baseball began in 1903 when the American and National Leagues competed in the first World Series.

The curveball emerged early on as a deceptive, albeit democratic, technique. The spitball soon followed and would not be made illegal until 1920, though several established pitchers were grandfathered in and allowed to continue the practice. Another rough-and-tumble technique was camouflaging the ball with tobacco juice or slippery elm, but when Ray Chapman died just 12 hours after being hit in the head with a darkened ball in 1920, baseball shifted from a pitcher’s game to a batter’s game. Umpires were required to enforce new rules mandating clean balls be used.

What was acceptable before 1920 was now called into question, including the overuse of balls. Though they were constructed of cork and wrapped in cowhide, they unraveled and softened so much over the course of a game that long-distance hits were difficult. It did not help that, at the time, baseball diamonds were gargantuan compared to their modern counterparts. These conditions coalesced to encourage baseball players to adopt a “small ball” strategy of bunts and stolen bases; spectators witnessed few home runs and low scoring games, Thus, the period before 1920 is referred to as the Dead-Ball Era.

Despite the dampening quality of baseball in the Dead-Ball Era, spectators enjoyed the leisurely game, which invited conversation punctuated by moments that arose and passed with exciting speed. The improvisational choreography of players shifting over a diamond-shaped field is the kind of scene that results from the fact that baseball is the only game where defense has the ball. This sport was approachable in the sense that it appeared to be just the kind of game that spectators themselves could succeed at.

Each player stood as an individual statement on the character of America. They came to the field from diverse occupations and worried about going back to their day jobs. With little separation between players and spectators, this personal game naturally courted corruption in the form of gambling, which led to cheating. Baseball grew in popularity until some White Sox players were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series in exchange for payoffs from gamblers. The White Sox were such a heavy favorite against the Cincinnati Reds that a Reds victory posed quite a lucrative opportunity for gamblers. As a consequence of this scandal, eight ball players were banned for life from professional baseball. Additional reports of fixed games came to light and seemed to signal that the entire sport had been corrupted.

Only the exploits and slugging power of Babe Ruth could move baseball past the shady 1910s. His success in drawing crowds with awe-inspiring home runs effectively ended the Dead-Ball Era. Home runs became more commonplace as “swinging for the fences” replaced the small ball strategy. The 1920s opened a door to Baseball’s Golden Age. “Sunny Jim” Bottomley’s 1922 debut in Major League Baseball was full of promise and helped move the sport into a respectable light.