Getting Ready For The World Series: Part 1 A Brief History of Baseball

Williston, ND (KEYZ) - With the Babe Ruth World Series once again making its home in Williston August 13th through the 20th.

KEYZ Radio, your radio home for the World Series, will give you some insight into the National Pastime to introduce the sport those who may not be familiar with baseball, but looking to take in the week long spectacle.

Baseball first got its start over 150 years ago, around 15 years before the civil war.  The sport started to come into its own in the early 1900's and exploded into population with radio's finding their ways into homes.

With the sport soaring in popularity came its first true superstar, one George Herman Ruth, known more commonly as "Babe".  With the Sultan of Swat taking the nation by storm, and sending a bevy of baseballs into the stands, the "Dead Ball Era" officially.

In 1947, a monumental leap forward was made when Jackie Robinson became the first African American player to appear in the big leagues. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues until Brooklyn Dodgers brought him in as the player who would integrate the white major leagues.  Robinson would also go on to win Rookie of the year for the 1947 season.

Over the next 50 years, equipment would improve, but much of the game would remain the same, with a few minor yet controversial tweaks.

In 1966, the Houston Astro's introduced a new field with artificial turf.  Dubbed "Astro Turf" it took the nation by storm with a significant amount of teams in many sports switching. However in recent years, there has been a swing back to going to grass and dirt fields.  The shift back to natural grass fields has come as concerns over turf caused injuries arose, and due to turf fields being significantly hotter during the dog days of summer.

One of the biggest hot button changes came in 1973, when Major League Baseball introduced the designated hitter, a batter whose sole purpose in a game is offense and who does not play on the field.  Currently only half of the MLB implements the Designator Hitter rule.

Later this week we will have part 2 of our continuing series getting ready for the 2022 Babe Ruth World Series.  There we will take a look at baseball on the silver screen and how it has shaped the game today.

Until next time sports fans, I'm Mike Reuter.