Baseball: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
Historical works include Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig, The Image of Their Greatness: An Illustrated History of Baseball from 1900 to the Present, updated ed. (1984); and Lawrence S. Ritter (comp.), The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, new ed. (1984). For a history of Black players and the Negro leagues, see Robert Peterson, Only the Ball Was White (1970, reprinted 1984), and Peterson’s article for Encyclopædia Britannica on the Negro leagues. David Quentin Voigt, Baseball, an Illustrated History (1987), includes such topics as Black baseball and intercollegiate sports.
The Official Baseball Guide, containing records and a narrative review of the previous season, and the Official Baseball Register, giving the career record of each major league player of the previous season, are published annually by The Sporting News. The standard reference work covering the records of professional players since 1871 is Joseph L. Reichler (ed.), The Baseball Encyclopedia, 7th rev. ed. (1988). Organization and play of the game itself is the basis of Joe Brinkman and Charlie Euchner, The Umpire’s Handbook, rev. ed. (1987). Bill James and John Dewan, Bill James Presents the Great American Baseball Stat Book, ed. by Geoff Beckman et al. (1987), is a massive collection of the game’s statistics.
Information on baseball played outside the United States may be found in Robert Whiting, You Gotta Have Wa (1990), and The Chrysanthemum and the Bat: Baseball Samurai Style (1976); Peter Bjarkman, Baseball with a Latin Beat (1994); Marcos Bretón and José Villegas, Away Games (1999); Alan M. Klein, Sugarball: The American Game, the Dominican Dream (1991); Samuel A. Regalado, Viva Baseball (1998); Rob Ruck, The Tropic of Baseball: Baseball in the Dominican Republic (1991); and Michael M. Oleksak and Mary Adams Oleksak, Béisbol: Latin Americans and the Grand Old Game (1991).
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- Richard Frank Peterson
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Benjamin G. Rader
Professor of History at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
- Jerome Holtzman
- Milton Jamail
- Gilbert P. Laue
- Robert W. Peterson
-
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Other Contributors
-
Michael DearGraduate of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, School of Applied Linguistics and Cultural Studies in Germersheim, Germany. Translator, reviser and editor at the Deutsche Bundesbank since 1997.
- Great Museums
Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors
Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article title updated for style. | Nov 11, 2026 | ||
| In the World Series table, added the results for the 2026 season. | Oct 28, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Baseball Pitching Biomechanics in Relation to Injury Risk and Performance. | Aug 01, 2026 | ||
| Added multiple historical images that had expired. | May 07, 2026 | ||
| Added cross-references, deleted expired assets, requested replacements, adjusted display. | Mar 20, 2026 | ||
| Added the results for the 2025 season. | Nov 01, 2025 | ||
| Added a reference to torpedo bats. | Apr 03, 2025 | ||
| Added cross-references to “Casey at the Bat” and revised to reflect modern spellings. | Jan 28, 2025 | ||
| Media added. | Oct 31, 2024 | ||
| Media added. | Apr 26, 2024 | ||
| Media added. | Mar 08, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Society for American Baseball Research - Baseball and Tammany Hall. | Feb 29, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: International Olympic Committee - Baseball Softball. | Dec 23, 2023 | ||
| Updated with references to the 2023 rules changes. | Oct 25, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Baseball Hall of Fame - Baseball History, American History and You. | Sep 06, 2022 | ||
| Add new Web site: PBS NewsHour - How Latinos Changed Baseball in America. | Aug 31, 2021 | ||
| Add new Web site: LiveAbout - A Brief History Of Baseball. | Mar 12, 2021 | ||
| Changed “black” to “Black” throughout article. | Aug 26, 2020 | ||
| Rearranged media. | Nov 19, 2019 | ||
| Deleted table. | Jun 28, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: Encyclopedia of Chicago - Baseball. | Jun 28, 2018 | ||
| Revised and updated the Baseball abroad and Records and statistics sections. | May 16, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Online Guide to Traditional Games - Rounders and Baseball - History and Information. | Mar 15, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: NPR - The 'Secret History' Of Baseball's Earliest Days. | Jan 20, 2016 | ||
| In Professional baseball section, noted that the World Series was not held in 1994. | Apr 29, 2014 | ||
| Changed "Carribean" to "Caribbean" twice in reference to the table of winners of the Caribbean Series. |
|
Feb 10, 2014 | |
| In History section, added the 1749 British newspaper report that mentioned baseball. | Jun 19, 2013 | ||
| Media added. | Apr 19, 2013 | ||
| Add new Web site: Hickoksports.com - Baseball. | Apr 16, 2013 | ||
| Two videos added. | Jul 05, 2012 | ||
| Updated to mention that a second Wild Card team was added to each league. | Mar 09, 2012 | ||
| Updated minor-league information and number of New York-based teams that have played in the World Series. Also removed repetitive mention about Olympic baseball in "Amateur baseball" section. | Feb 07, 2011 | ||
| Added mentions of the "dead-ball era," the end of contraction plans in 2002, and Major League Baseball's 2010 average and median salaries. | Nov 02, 2010 | ||
| Added Major League Baseball All-Time Records table. | Jun 02, 2010 | ||
| Diagram showing how a pitched ball curves added to the Play of the game section. | Apr 20, 2010 | ||
| Corrected origin of the slider, which was first thrown by Charles Bender. | Mar 10, 2010 | ||
| Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Entertainment - How Baseball Works. | Feb 26, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Entertainment - Baseball History. | Feb 26, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: Baseball Reference - Major League Baseball Statistics and History. | Sep 30, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: Baseball Reference - Major League Baseball Statistics and History. | Sep 30, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: Official Site of Major League Baseball. | Sep 30, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: Official Site of Major League Baseball. | Sep 30, 2008 | ||
| Article revised. | Jul 09, 2008 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | May 29, 2008 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Mar 28, 2008 | ||
| Updated Tampa Bay Rays reference. | Mar 06, 2008 | ||
| Updated Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim reference. | Mar 06, 2008 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Mar 06, 2008 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Dec 14, 2007 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Dec 13, 2007 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Nov 20, 2007 | ||
| Media added. | Jan 25, 2007 | ||
| Added new Web site: Library of Congress - Baseball and Jackie Robinson. | Oct 13, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Official Site of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. | Jul 17, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Exploratorium - Sport Science at the Exploratorium. | May 31, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Exploratorium - Sport Science at the Exploratorium. | May 31, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: The Coaching Corner. | May 30, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Major League Baseball Players Association. | May 08, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Major League Baseball Players Association. | May 08, 2006 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Apr 27, 2006 | ||
| Article revised. | Apr 22, 2005 | ||
| Article revised. | Mar 04, 2004 | ||
| Article revised. | Nov 14, 2003 | ||
| Article revised. | Jan 12, 2000 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 20, 1998 |