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The game of baseball is a direct descendent of American 'Town Ball', a schoolyard game played in early America.
The history of baseball is marred with controversies and congressional actions. It is common myth that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839. The United States Congress recognized Doubleday as the inventor of baseball for 50 years. It was later proven by historians that Alexander Cartwright held the rightful claim of inventing the first rules of baseball in 1845.
In the United States and Japan, professional baseball is a very popular spectator sport with millions of fans attending professional baseball games each year. Baseball has become America's favorite pastime and is considered by many to be an essential social function of modern society.
Baseball is played at most every age level in organized sports, including the very young. In 2006, Little League Baseball boasted over 2.6 million children worldwide participating in organized youth baseball sports.
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