Sports in America
Baseball
Major league baseball, including teams from the United States and Canada, is divided into the National League and the American League. The major league baseball season lasts from April to October and includes the regular season, the playoffs, and the World Series. The final series in the league playoffs determines which team wins the pennant, or championship, of their league. The two pennant winners meet in the World Series, and the winner of this series becomes the major league world champion.
The sport that evokes more nostalgia among Americans than any other is baseball. So many people play the game as children that it has become known as "the national pastime." The game, as it is known today, evolved from a variety of similar games that have been played for centuries; although it is clear that modern baseball developed in North America, the exact origin of the game is difficult to determine. Today, professional baseball attracts millions of spectators to ballparks each year and entertains millions more through radio and television broadcasts. Professional baseball includes the major leagues and the minor leagues. Amateur baseball includes Little League, high school and university competition, and various community leagues.
American soldiers brought baseball to Japan, where it is widely played. Baseball is also popular in Cuba and other Caribbean nations. In the 1996 Olympics, it was a measure of baseball's appeal outside the United States that the contest for the gold medal came down to Japan and Cuba (Cuba won).
Background
· 100 Years of the American League (Sporting News)
· All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954)
· Ballpark Memories (Atlantic Monthly)
· Ballparks of Baseball - The Fields of Major League Baseball
· Baseball (Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia)
· Baseball (PBS)
· Baseball Almanac - the "Official" Baseball History Site
· Baseball America Online
· The Baseball Archive
· BaseballLibrary.com "The Stories Behind the Stats"
· Baseball Think Factory
· "Birdland: Two Observations on the Cultural Significance of Baseball" by Gerald Early. Excerpts (American Poetry Review, July/August 1996, pp. 9-10)
· Black Baseball's Negro Baseball Leagues. (Negro Leagues Baseball Museum)
· Major League Baseball - The Official Site
· MLB Scoreboard from ESPN
· The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
· Negro League Baseball
· Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
· Netshrine - a Celebration of Baseball
· Portrait of America: Exporting Popular Culture
· Society for American Baseball Research
· Spalding Base Ball Guides 1889 - 1939 (Library of Congress)
· Sports in America (IIP Electronic Journal. December 2003)
· The Vault: Baseball -- From the Archives of The Sporting News
· WorldSeries.com (MLB)
Original Documents
· Major League Baseball: Official Rules
Multimedia
· About Baseball. Great Moment Video Clips
· PSSLBaseball.com Multimedia Room (Puget Sound Sports League)
Exhibits - Digital Images
· Autographed Baseballs in the Joyce Sports Collection, University of Notre Dame
· Baseball as America (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.)
· Baseball Cards 1887-1914 (Library of Congress)
· Early Baseball Pictures, 1860s-1920s (Library of Congress)
· Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Presidents and Baseball (The White House)
For High School Students
· Baseball. (The Reader's Companion to American History. Houghton Mifflin Company)
· Baseball (World Almanac for Kids)
· Baseball Basics (Major League Baseball Official Info)
· Fact Monster: Baseball (Information Please)
· High School Baseball Web
· How Baseball Works (Howstuffworks)
· How Minor League Baseball Teams Work (Howstuffworks)
· Join America at Play > Play Ball! (Library of Congress)
· Junior Baseball: America's Youth Baseball Magazine
· Little League Online
· Major League Baseball. Kids' Dugout
· Presidents and Baseball (White House)
· Science of Baseball (Exploratorium)
Teacher Resources
· Baseball and American Cultural Values. Ronald Briley (Magazine of History, vol. 7, no. 1, Summer 1992)
· Baseball ... As American as Apple Pie. Learning Page (Library of Congress Community Center)
· Baseball. For Teachers (PBS)
· Baseball & Softball Lessons, Tips (Knowledge Hound)
· Baseball Instruction (eteamz)
· Batter Up for the World Series (learners online)
· National Baseball Hall of Fame ... Your Education Destination
· The School Athletics Center: Baseball (The Copernicus Education Gateway)
· WebBall Baseball Coaching and Baseball Instruction
Link Lists
· About.com: Baseball
· The Baseball Portal.com
· Google Web Directory > Sports > Baseball
· Jim Furtado's BaseballStuff.com
· John Skilton's Baseball Links
· LookSmart: Baseball
· Open Directory: Sports > Baseball
· Yahoo! Recreation > Sports > Baseball 
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