Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, but also on other continents it attracts a large fan base.
Below you will find interesting facts about baseball in the United States of America.
The first official game of baseball was played in 1846 and the rules were created by Alexander Cartwright.
The first professional baseball league was founded in 1876.
Forbes Field in Pittsburgh was the first baseball stadium built in the United States. It was used from 1909 to 1971. The stadium was named after John Forbes, a general from Great Britain who fought in the French and Indian War.
In 1921, baseball was broadcasted on the radio for the first time. The first time it was televised was in 1939.
In 1929, teams started to wear numbers on the back of their jerseys.
Timewise, the longest game in the history of the MLB was played on 8th May 1984 between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox. The game lasted 8 hour and 6 minutes and was stopped at 1:00 AM and had to be resumed the next day. After 25 innings, Chicago White Sox beat The Brewers 7-6.
The shortest game in baseball history was played in 1926 between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Giants. The team from The Big Apple beat the Phillies with a 6-1 score in just 51 minutes.
Highest attendance at a Major League Baseball (MLB) game was 92,762 spectators who visited game 5 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox. The game was played in The Coliseum.
The lowest attendance at a MLB game was 347 fans at a game between the Florida Marlins and the Cincinnati Reds. Hurricane Irene was on its way to the area and a lot of people decided to flee the region instead of visiting a MLB game.
The baseball industry in the United States of America generates around $7.3 billion in revenue, being the second sport industry in America, after football.
Nolan Ryan had the longest career in the history of baseball, he played for 27 years. The pitcher also struck out more batters than anyone else in the history of the Major League Baseball.
The chance that a fan can be hit by a baseball is 300,000 to 1.
Cal Ripken Jr played 2,632 consecutive games from 30 April 1982 to 19 September 1998.