Baseball is a sport that has captured hearts and minds for many years. Although highly regarded as an American sport it is hugely popular in Asia and other countries. While the game is thought to have been invented in Britain it reached new heights in America as it became the national pastime in the 1850s. Read on for some more incredible baseball facts.
Hotdogs and baseball
There is no such thing as baseball without hotdogs. They go together like Bob Ross and happy little trees. It is estimated that over 25,000,000 hot dogs are sold each year at Major League Baseball games. If laid end to end they could stretch from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Baseballs are sturdy but don’t last
Baseballs are built to a high quality with 108 double stitches in each ball. Yet each ball only lasts for 6 pitches before it is retired. That means that every game goes through almost 70 baseballs.
The baseball card
Baseball cards became hugely popular items to trade in America as favorite athletes were sought after in card form. While you may think a Babe Ruth card would fetch the most money another athlete appears to get a higher fee. Edward Card was a dwarf-sized baseballer who passed away in 1961. His autography is said to be worth more than Ruth’s.
The world series
The Major League Baseball competition in America is called the World Series. Many find this ironic as it only includes teams from America and one from Canada. The reason it is called the World Series dates back to 1903. The Red Sox were the best team in the ‘American League’ and the Pirates were the best team in ‘The National League’. In 1903 the owner of the Pirates wrote to the Red Sox challenging them to a World’s Championship Series.
