This weekend Major League Baseball will play it's 200,000th game.

Seriously.

Saturday nights Astros/Rockies game was the 200,000th game in MLB history. The history of baseball itself is interesting, as is the fact that it didn't replace cricket as the number one sport in America until the 1860's is, to say the least, unexpected in my books. The first professional game was between the Boston Red Caps (no relation to the Red Sox - actually they are the modern Atlanta Braves) and the Philadephia Athletics (no relation to the Oakland Athletics) in the National League (same National League that exists today). Actually it's fascinating to read how, even though it is considered the first professional league, how amateur it still was, with players doubling as umpires for other teams and only six of the eight teams completing the 70 game season. There were also tie games in this season (the only season where it was possible to have a tie). The only two teams from the 1876 season to exist today in any form are the Atlanta Braves (who were the afore mentioned Boston Red Caps from 1876 until 1912 when they became the Boston Braves, then moved to Milwaukee and then Atlanta) and the Chicago Cubs (who were the Chicago White Stockings until 1898 - you can imagine the uproar when the AL Chicago White Sox (who used White Stockings until 1920) took that name in 1900... and they've hated each other ever since). The 1876 Cincinnati Reds are no relation to the modern Cincinnati Reds, who took the name of the 1876 team, which disbanded in 1878, when they joined the NL in 1890.

Anyway, there's a lot more to read but it's an amazing history spanning, in one form or another, all the way back in to the 1840's. It's also amazing that the game has survived for 135 years, making it the oldest professional sport in the world (though cricket is the oldest recognized team sport). It also says something of the growth of the game that it started with a few small clubs in the northeast USA and yet it's 200,000th game was played in Houston, Texas against a team from Denver, Colorado. It's also amazing that professional teams exist in over a dozen countries in North and South America and east Asia.

I found it a fascinating read, and even if you're not a fan of the game it's amazing to see the development of professional sports in general. Enjoy.