---

People who lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on June 18, 1846 knew there was to be some sort of sporting event there the next day at the Elysian Fields by the Hudson River but none of them knew history was in the making. The event turned out to be the first baseball game ever played with recognizably modern rules as part of an organized sport. The teams were the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York and an informal team called the New York Nine. The informal team won by a score of 23-1 in four innings. From this beginning, the sport grew in popularity and the first professional team was founded in 1869. Now, Major League Baseball is the most attended professional sport in the nation -- attracting nearly 80 million spectators to games across the country annually.

---