Making the Majors: The Transformation of Team Sports in America
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In the s the flow of Cuban baseball talent to the United States was cut off by the advent of the Castro regime. During the s the number of Puerto Rican players increased, and preeminent players such as Clemente and Cepeda were reaching their peak. A new development was the arrival of players from the Dominican Republic in increasing numbers. Osvaldo Virgil, an infielder with the Giants, was the first Dominican in the majors , and Felipe Alou , with the same team, was the second.
The first Dominican star, pitcher Juan Marichal , made his debut in , also with the Giants by now in San Francisco. Other teams, mostly in the National League, followed suit. Meanwhile, Rico Carty, a slugging outfielder with the Braves, became the first Dominican power hitter in the majors. By the s Dominicans were nearly as numerous in the majors as Puerto Ricans, and Cubans had dwindled to a very few because Cuba remained closed.
The predominance of Dominicans among the Latins in the majors is due in part to the controversial—some think exploitative—baseball academies established by major league teams in that country; the summer league is also a factor in the development of Dominican talent. The most accomplished and popular of the Mexican players was left-handed pitcher Fernando Valenzuela , who had tremendous seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the s. Valenzuela, a charismatic player, was the only Latin player in the major leagues at that time to have a large following of his own compatriots at his home field. This situation is becoming more common, however, and the large Latin populations in several major league cities in the United States have led teams to offer Spanish-language radio and television broadcasts.
But he is also a superbly conditioned athlete, the product of modern training techniques. Cuba has nearly twice the population of the Dominican Republic and a baseball tradition that goes back to the 19th century. A sudden influx of Cuban talent to the major leagues could have an unsettling effect. Major League Baseball, the governing body of the U. Given the potential number of Cuban players ready to play professional baseball, the Latin presence in the majors would increase dramatically, speeding up changes that are already occurring.
Major league teams already have Spanish-speaking managers and coaches throughout their systems, but their numbers would have to increase. Spanish coverage via radio and television will surely increase with more Latin players involved and with Latin communities, such as the one in Miami, having enough purchasing power to make a difference. The game itself will not deviate much from the model offered by Major League Baseball. For some time U. Power is the foundation of the spectacle for pay, and even in communist Cuba baseball is a power game today.
There is a homogenization of baseball at all levels. Even the distinctiveness of the National and American leagues is being eroded as they are subsumed under the umbrella of Major League Baseball. Umpiring has been standardized, and interleague play has been instituted. With a commissioner drawn from the ranks of the owners themselves, it is very unlikely that market forces will be thwarted by aesthetic, ethical, or political criteria, except those that benefit Major League Baseball.
Having played league games in Japan, there is the possibility that Major League Baseball will become a global monopoly, with affiliated leagues throughout the world. But there is also the danger that the North American version will remain the majors and the rest of the world the minors. We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles.
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Learn More in these related Britannica articles: The NL and the AL acted as independent organizations from their founding in the 19th century. The United States men's national Australian rules football team and the women's national team both regularly play international matches, and play in the Australian Football International Cup , an international tournament.
The sport also benefits from an active fan based organization, the Australian Football Association of North America. Bandy is only played in Minnesota. In terms of licensed athletes, it is the second biggest winter sport in the world. Cricket in the United States is not a popular sport, but has a niche market with limited inroads, mainly in immigrant communities. Historically, cricket used to be the most popular sport in America during the 18th and early 19th centuries, [ citation needed ] but declined as baseball overtook cricket. The first intercollegiate tournament in America was the first annual Canada vs.
Curling is popular in northern states, [ citation needed ] possibly because of climate, proximity to Canada, or Scandinavian heritage. The national popularity of curling is growing after significant media coverage of the sport in the and Winter Olympics. They do not have a high profile, but are developing sports, with New York fielding a representative team in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Field hockey is played in the United States predominantly by women. It is played widely at numerous NCAA colleges, where it is used as a sport to offset Title IX regulations assuring equal opportunities for men and women in sports it thus offsets male-dominated sports such as college football.
Handball , a common sport in European countries, is seldom seen in the United States. The sport is mostly played in the country on the amateur level. Handball is played in the Summer Olympics , but is not sanctioned by the NCAA; all college and university teams play as club teams. Inline hockey was invented by Americans as a way to play the sport in all climates. The PIHA is the league with the largest number of professional teams in the nation. Street hockey is a non-standard version of inline hockey played by amateurs in informal games. The United States national rugby league team played in their first World Cup in losing to Australia in the quarter finals 62—0.
Water polo does not have a professional competition in the U. The NCAA sanctions water polo as a varsity sport for both men and women, but sport is not popular in the U. Angleball is a sport developed as a way to maintain physical fitness. Angleball gameplay is simple.
Two large balls are placed atop standards at opposite sides of a field. Teams pass a smaller ball back and forth, attempting to knock the other team's ball off its perch with the smaller ball.
Could women play major league baseball? Sure. Right now, though, the deck is stacked against them.
Badminton has also become a popular backyard sport in the United States. Capture the flag is played recreationally by adults and children. Dodgeball is played traditionally by children in school, though adult leagues in urban areas have formed within the past 10 years. A caricatured version was portrayed in the film comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Kickball is also played recreationally by adults and children, especially at the elementary school level.
Its rules are largely identical to baseball, except that no bat is used and instead a large rubber ball is rolled along the ground for the "batter" to kick. Roller derby is a contact sport played on roller skates that has had brief surges of popularity throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Roller Derby was portrayed in the film Whip It. Since September , there were women's, men's, and junior leagues in the U. For the most part, unlike sports in Europe and other parts of the world, there is no system of promotion and relegation in American professional sports.
Major sports leagues operate as associations of franchises. The same 30—32 teams play in the league each year unless they move to another city or the league chooses to expand with new franchises. All American sports leagues use the same type of schedule. After the regular season, the 10—16 teams with the best records enter a playoff tournament leading to a championship series or game.
American sports, except for soccer, have no equivalent to the cup competitions that run concurrently with leagues in European sports. Even in the case of soccer, the cup competition, the Lamar Hunt U. Open Cup , draws considerably less attention than the regular season. Also, the only top-level U. Since the season, all U. Open Cup, in which they compete against teams from lower-level U. In addition, three or four U. Open Cup qualify to play clubs from countries outside the U. International competition is not as important in American sports as it is in the sporting culture of most other countries, although Olympic ice hockey and basketball tournaments do generate attention.
The first international baseball tournament with top-level players, the World Baseball Classic , also generated some positive reviews after its inaugural tournament in The major professional sports leagues operate drafts once a year, in which each league's teams selected eligible prospects. Eligibility differs from league to league.
Baseball and ice hockey operate minor league systems for players who have finished education but are not ready or good enough for the major leagues. The NBA also has a development league for players who are not ready to play at the top level. The extent to which sports are associated with secondary and tertiary education in the United States is rare among nations. Millions of students participate in athletics programs operated by high schools and colleges.
Student-athletes often receive scholarships to colleges in recognition of their athletic potential. Especially in football and basketball, college sports are followed in numbers equaling those of professional sports. For upper-tier institutions, sports are a significant source of revenue; for less prominent teams, maintaining a high-level team is a major expense.
To ensure some semblance of competitive balance, the NCAA divides its institutions into three divisions four in football , sorted by the number of athletic scholarships each school is willing to offer. The most practiced college sports, measured by NCAA reporting on varsity team participation, [74] are: The most popular sport among female athletes is soccer, followed closely by track and field. Most public high schools are members of their respective state athletic association, and those associations are members of the National Federation of State High School Associations NFHS.
Some states have separate associations for public and non-public high schools. As of , the NFHS reported 29 consecutive years of increasing high school sports participation, driven largely by growth in girls participation. Popular high school sports in various regions of the U. The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament is the largest high school sporting event in the country, with average attendance to the top tier, or "AA", games over 18, The Amateur Athletic Union claims to have over , participants and over , volunteers..
The AAU has existed since , and has been influential in amateur sports for that same time span.
In the s, the AAU received growing criticism. Many claimed that its regulatory framework was outdated. Women were banned from participating in certain competitions and some runners were locked out. There were also problems with sporting goods that did not meet the standards of the AAU. During this time, the Amateur Sports Act of organized the United States Olympic Committee and saw the re-establishment of state-supported independent associations for the Olympic sports, referred to as national governing bodies.
As a result, the AAU lost its influence and importance in international sports, and focused on the support and promotion of predominantly youthful athletes, as well as on the organization of national sports events. No American government agency is charged with overseeing sports. However, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports advises the President through the Secretary of Health and Human Services about physical activity, fitness, and sports, and recommends programs to promote regular physical activity for the health of all Americans.
Congress has also involved itself in several aspects of sports, notably gender equity in college athletics, illegal drugs in pro sports, sports broadcasting and the application of antitrust law to sports leagues.
Individual states may also have athletic commissions, which primarily govern individual sports such as boxing , kickboxing and mixed martial arts. Although these commissions only have jurisdiction over their own states, the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U. Constitution is often interpreted as forcing all other states to recognize any state athletic commission's rulings regarding an athlete's fitness for participating in a sport. Sports have been a major part of American broadcasting since the early days of radio.
Contracts between leagues and broadcasters stipulate how often games must be interrupted for commercials. Because of all of the advertisements, broadcasting contracts are very lucrative and account for the biggest chunk of major professional teams' revenues. Broadcasters also covet the television contracts for the major sports leagues especially in the case of the NFL in order to amplify their ability to promote their programming to the audience, especially young and middle-aged adult males.
The advent of cable and satellite television has greatly expanded sports offerings on American TV. It has been followed by several sister networks and competitors.
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Some sports teams run their own television networks as well. Sports are also widely broadcast at the local level, ranging from college and professional sports down to on some smaller stations recreational and youth leagues. In the broadest definition of sports—physical recreation of all sorts—the four most popular sports among the general population of the United States are exercise walking 90 million , exercising with equipment 53 million , swimming 52 million and camping 47 million.
The most popular competitive sport and fifth most popular recreational sport is bowling 43 million. Other most popular sports are fishing 35 million , bicycling 37 million , weightlifting 33 million , aerobics 30 million , and hiking 28 million. There is some variation by viewer demographics. Men, show a stronger preference for football than women, conservatives a stronger preference than liberals, and those over 35 a stronger preference than those under In all groups, however, football is still the most popular.
Basketball and soccer are more popular among liberals than conservatives. Though baseball has historically been called the "national pastime", American football has considerably grown in popularity with the advent of television over the last several decades. Most debates about "America's most popular sport" tend to center on the degree of Americans' identification with either of these two games; the question is a difficult one to resolve.
Latin Americans in Major League Baseball Through the First Years of the 21st Century
Advocates of baseball point to the overwhelming number of baseball tickets sold annually in the United States and Canada, compared to NFL football. It is likely that the average American sports fan will attend many more major league baseball games than NFL football games in his or her lifetime, due in part to baseball's longer schedule and football's generally higher ticket prices.
Advocates of football, in turn, point to football's large television audience, including the Super Bowl, though the sport is also facing some negative publicity in the world of youth sports due to media coverage of documented health and injury risks posed to players, including the potential long-term health concerns that concussions pose for children or teenagers.
In many cases, identification with a certain football or baseball team is a matter of local identity and family inheritance going back many generations. Furthermore, the popularity of each, as well as of other major team sports, may vary depending on region, ethnicity and age. The following table shows the major professional sports leagues, which average over 15, fans per game and that have a national TV contract that pays rights fees.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Please enter a valid email address. Students at the all-female Vassar College formed baseball teams as early as Traditional wrestling is performed at the scholastic level; high school wrestling is one of the most popular participatory sports for young men in the United States, and college wrestling has a small following. Frantic bidding by the clubs followed. Thirty-five Hall of Fame members and more than Major League Baseball players served in the war, but with the exception of D-Day , games continued. Although they suffered harassment and discrimination off the field, they were grudgingly accepted by most of their teammates and opponents. Baseball had been in the West for almost as long as the National League and the American League had been around.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. October Learn how and when to remove this template message. History of sports in the United States. This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. United States at the Olympics. Motorsport in the United States. Golf in the United States. Tennis in the United States. Professional sports leagues in the United States. This section needs additional citations for verification. January Learn how and when to remove this template message. History of lacrosse , College lacrosse , and Lacrosse in the United States. Volleyball in the United States.
Rugby union in the United States. Cricket in the United States. Ultimate sport and Flying disc freestyle. Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. College athletics in the United States. An additional 29, students played in variants with reduced team sizes 6-man, 8-man, 9-man. List of TV markets and major sports teams in the United States. Three places are automatically reserved for MLS teams: The fourth place goes to the U.
Open Cup winner, which is not necessarily an MLS team.
If a team qualifies for the Champions League by more than one method, or if a Canada-based team fills an automatic qualifying spot, the Champions League place passes to the U. Retrieved 13 March Retrieved on July 24, The Chesapeake Gentry, s. Archived from the original on May 17, Retrieved July 22, The next year the St.
Louis Browns, themselves overshadowed by the Cardinals, moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles. Despite the betrayal felt by fans in Brooklyn and Manhattan , the moves were a successful business decision for the clubs. The decade of franchise movement was followed by several rounds of expansion that lasted into the s. Expansion began in when the Washington D. Senators were moved to Minneapolis—St. Paul and renamed the Twins , and a new franchise was granted to Washington also named the Senators ; however, it lasted only until , when it was transferred to Dallas—Fort Worth and renamed the Texas Rangers.
The game season had been expanded in the American League to in ; the National League followed suit in Along with this first round of expansion came an era of superb pitching that dominated the league for a generation. The earned run averages for pitchers during this era averaged 3.
Several changes in the game were believed to account for the resurgence of pitching; the strike zone was expanded in ; managers explored more strategic uses of the relief pitchers; and new glove technology improved defensive play. At the same time, a new generation of large multipurpose stadiums came into use.
These stadiums typically used artificial turf that was harder and faster than natural grass. As a result, new emphasis was placed on speed in the field and on the base paths. Fearing that the dominance of pitching was hurting fan interest in the game, the major league tried to improve hitting by lowering the mound and narrowing the strike zone in In hopes of further increasing offensive play, the American League introduced the designated hitter in The changes did increase offensive output, but pitching still dominated through much of the s.
In new franchises were awarded to Montreal the Expos , the first major league franchise outside the United States and San Diego , California the Padres , bringing the National League to 12 teams. In the American League in , new franchises in Kansas City, Missouri the Royals , and Seattle, Washington the Pilots , brought that league to 12 teams, and both leagues were divided into Eastern and Western divisions. Play-offs between division winners determined the league pennant winners, who then played in the World Series, which was extended into late October.
California, which had had no major league baseball prior to , had five teams by Of the new franchises, only Seattle failed outright and was moved to Milwaukee, where it became the Brewers moved to the National League in a reorganization. A franchise was again granted to Seattle the Mariners and to Toronto the Blue Jays , bringing the number of American League teams to 14 in In both leagues were reconfigured into East, Central, and West divisions.
The play-off format was changed to include an additional round and a Wild Card the team with the best record among the non-division-winning teams in each league. The play-offs were again expanded in , when a second Wild Card was added to each league. Under the revised system, the two Wild Card teams play a one-game play-off, with the winner advancing to the best-of-five-games division series. An explosion of offense occurred in the mids and after.
In particular, home runs increased dramatically, reaching record-breaking numbers from to and again in the late s. The reasons for the change from dominant pitching to hitting were not entirely clear. Many claimed the ball had been engineered to fly farther; others claimed that continual expansion had diluted the quality of pitching. The improved off-season conditioning that now often included weight lifting made players stronger and quicker with their bats. The s also saw another generation of new ballparks, many of which featured small dimensions that were more to the liking of power hitters.
During the later half of the 20th century, expansion was perceived by baseball executives as both a source of added revenue for clubs large entry fees were charged to new franchises as well as a means of generating new interest in the game. In , however, concerns over economically underperforming clubs prompted owners to announce plans to eliminate two teams widely believed to be the Minnesota Twins and the since-relocated Montreal Expos.
The minor leagues formed an association in to deal with the problems resulting from the lack of agreement on contract ownership, salaries, territoriality, and other issues. The current structure was created when the major leagues reached their agreement in , and the minor leagues became a training ground for prospective major league players and a refuge for older players. In Branch Rickey , then manager of the St. Other major league clubs followed suit, developing their own farm clubs that were tied into the minors. In the minor leagues were tremendously popular: The minor leagues at that time were divided into six classifications, graded according to the level of playing skills: Attendance eroded soon thereafter when the major leagues began broadcasting and televising their games into minor league attendance areas.
By the early s, after the American and National leagues had annexed 10 choice minor league territories, the number of minor league teams had been greatly reduced, and only 17 leagues remained. Attendance had dropped, and the minor league clubs generally looked to the major league parent clubs for heavy subsidization. The purpose of the minor leagues had evolved from mainly providing local entertainment to developing major league talent.
This situation improved in the early s. As ticket prices for major league games escalated, attendance at less expensive minor league games rose apace. Further, development of new stadiums and renovation of existing facilities created more interest in minor league baseball. By attendance at minor league games had reached more than The minor league franchises successfully concentrated on drawing families to their parks with both games and promotional entertainment.
From the beginning of organized professional baseball, the owners had controlled the game, players, managers, and umpires. The players had begun to organize as early as , when a group of New York Giants formed the National Brotherhood of Base Ball Players, a benevolent and protective association.
Under the leadership of John Montgomery Ward, who had a law degree and was a player for the Giants, the Brotherhood grew rapidly as a secret organization. Rebuffed in attempts to negotiate with league owners, the Brotherhood in formed the short-lived Players League. During the National League—American League war of —03, the Protective Association of Professional Baseball Players got National League players to switch to the other league, but with the peace treaty the association died. It was organized after the suspension of Ty Cobb for punching a fan.
Later a threatened strike was settled the day before it was to begin. After a Supreme Court decision reaffirmed a decision stating that baseball was not a business that was subject to antitrust rules, baseball felt assured that its legal and economic foundation was firm. This foundation is primarily based on the Reserve Rule , or Reserve Clause, an agreement among major league teams, dating from , whereby the rights of each team to the services of its players are observed by other teams; i.
The original number of 5 such players was increased to 11 in and ultimately included a whole team roster. The recourse the court failed to provide was in substance achieved by the Major League Baseball Players Association —founded in but largely ineffectual until , when it hired as executive director Marvin Miller , a former labour-union official who also had been active in government in labour-management relations. In a new suit was brought in federal court contesting the Reserve Clause. The plaintiff was Curt Flood , star outfielder of the St. Louis Cardinals, and the defendants were the commissioner, the two major league presidents, and the major league clubs.
Flood claimed that, in trading him to the Philadelphia Phillies without his knowledge or approval, the Cardinals had violated the antitrust laws. He refused to report to the Phillies and sat out the season. The court found against Flood, who appealed, and in the U.
Supreme Court reaffirmed the and decisions exempting baseball from the antitrust laws, but it called on Congress to correct through legislation any inequities. Meanwhile, Flood had signed for the season with Washington on the understanding that he would not be sold or traded without his permission. He quit in midseason, however. In baseball had its first general strike , lasting 13 days and causing the cancellation of 86 regular-season games and delaying the divisional play-offs and World Series by 10 days.
The players asked for and ultimately got an addition to the pension fund. These were unprecedented victories for the players, but their greatest triumph came prior to the season. Pitchers Andy Messersmith of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dave McNally of the Montreal Expos played the entire season without signing a contract ; their contracts had expired but were automatically renewed by their clubs.
Miller had been waiting for such a test case. Arbitrator Peter Seitz found for the players. This decision substantively demolished the Reserve Rule. Stunned, the owners appealed but without success. Negotiations followed, however, and the union agreed to a modification of the Reserve Rule: The ruling allowed eligible players who refused to sign their contracts to choose free agency in Twenty-four players took immediate advantage of this new opportunity and went on the open market.
Frantic bidding by the clubs followed. Bill Campbell, a relief pitcher with the Minnesota Twins, was the first free agent to make a new connection. The free agency procedure was the principal issue when the players struck for 50 days at the height of the season June 12—July 31 , forcing the cancellation of games. Once again the players won. The union contended that such compensation would impede movement, forcing the signing club, in effect, to pay twice: Under certain conditions relating to the quality of the player, however, the team that lost the free agent could draft a player from among those assigned to a compensation pool by their teams, and it could select an amateur draft choice from the signing team.
Fan interest continued to rise, and major league attendance records were broken six times in the —91 seasons. The major source of revenue, however, was television. The negotiations that followed were inconclusive, and on August 12 the players went on strike, shutting down all major league play for the remainder of the season. The owners again acted unilaterally in February , eliminating salary arbitration, free agent bidding, and anticollusion provisions.
A national pastime
Again the NLRB responded, seeking an injunction that would force ownership to operate under the old contract until a new agreement could be reached with the union. The —95 strike lasted days, erased games from the season, from the season , forced the first cancellation of the World Series since , disrupted the economies of cities and states, and disappointed millions of fans—all without reaching a resolution. As a result, there was an unprecedented decline in attendance during the season. Attendance improved by , but player compensation had soared; the average salary paid to a player had risen dramatically.
But while the average player salary increased sharply, the median player salary had not, meaning that the salaries paid to superstars of the game increased at a much greater rate than those of ordinary players. When the first professional league was formed four years later, it had no written rule barring black players, but it was tacitly understood that they were not welcome. The colour line was not consistently enforced, though, during the early years of professionalism. At least 60 black players performed in the minor leagues during the late 19th century—mostly in all-black clubs.
In two African Americans played in a recognized major league, the American Association. The number of black players in professional leagues peaked in when Fleet Walker, second baseman Bud Fowler, pitcher George Stovey, pitcher Robert Higgins, and Frank Grant, a second baseman who was probably the best black player of the 19th century, were on rosters of clubs in the International League, one rung below the majors.
At least 15 other black players were in lesser professional leagues. Although they suffered harassment and discrimination off the field, they were grudgingly accepted by most of their teammates and opponents. There were other disturbing signs of exclusion for black players in Louis Browns , American Association champions, refused to play an exhibition game against the all-black Cuban Giants. We will cheerfully play against white people at any time. The Ohio State League also wrestled inconclusively with the colour question. It was becoming clear that the colour bar was gradually being raised.
Black players were in the minor leagues for the next few years, but their numbers declined steadily. The last black players in the recognized minor leagues during 19th century were the Acme Colored Giants, who represented Celoron, New York, in the Iron and Oil Leagues in As the 20th century dawned, separation of the races was becoming the rule, especially in the South. Supreme Court had written segregation into national law in in Plessy v. Ferguson , which approved separate schools for black and white children. In the South , state laws and local ordinances placed limits on the use of public facilities by African Americans and forbade athletic competition between blacks and whites.
In the North , African Americans were not usually segregated by law, but local custom dictated second-class citizenship for them. Nevertheless, the idea of black players in the major and minor leagues was not yet unthinkable. In John J. McGraw , manager of the Baltimore Orioles in the new American League, tried to sign a black second baseman named Charlie Grant by saying that he was a Native American named Tokohama, a member of the Cherokee tribe. The effort failed when rivals correctly identified Grant instead as a member of the Chicago Columbia Giants, a black team. Increasingly, black players who wanted to play professionally had to join all-black teams.
Several swarthy players in the big leagues were widely assumed to be black, although they claimed to be white Latin Americans. No admitted black men played in the white leagues at the time. With the growing base of potential fans in the North, top-quality black teams appeared in the Northeast and Midwest. These teams vied for the mythical "colored championship of the world" and also played white semipro and college teams. During the week they played white clubs in nearby towns.