There is evidence that people played games involving a stick and a ball since the early days of civilization. Ancient cultures in Persia, Egypt, and Greece played stick-and-ball games for recreation and as part of certain ceremonies. Games of this type had spread throughout Europe by the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century) and became popular in a variety of forms.

    Europeans brought stick-and-ball games to the American colonies as early as the 1600s. Until the late 1700s, however, they were widely considered children's games.

    By the early 1800s, a variety of stick-and-ball games had become popular in North America. Most of these games originated in England. Many people in northeastern cities such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia played cricket, a traditional game of English aristocrats¹. But an English game called rounders, which was eventually played in rural and urban communities throughout North America, most closely resembled modern baseball. Looking for the rules of the game, try MLB Rules for additional information.

    Rounders called for a batter² to strike a ball and run around bases without being put out. Balls that were caught on the fly, or in some cases after one bounce, were commonly outs. If your would like to learn more about the fundamentals of Baseball try All About Baseball after looking at my site of course.

    Rounders also involved the practice of plugging, soaking, or stinging, in which fielders could put runners out by throwing the ball at them as they ran between bases. The rules of rounders varied³ widely from place to place, and people used various names to describe it, including town ball, one cat, and base ball (which was eventually shortened to baseball).

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    据考证，希腊和印度的古代寺庙以及碑石浮雕上均刻有持棒打球的图案。现代棒球运动的起源说法不一、有的认为源于15世纪英国的板球，但多数认为始于美国。1839年美国陆军军官道布尔戴在纽约州的库珀斯敦举办了首次棒球比赛。1845年世界第一个棒球俱乐部在纽约成立，并由卡特赖特确定正式比赛场地的规格，并制定较细的竞赛规则。1869年美国成立世界上第一个职业棒球队。1871年美国成立全国职业棒攻方队员击球后跑完一、二、三垒，回到本垒得1分。如攻方队员3人出局无人跑回本垒，攻方得零分，攻方变成守方。仅设男子项目，1992年被列为奥运会比赛项目。