It is believed that baseball's roots are in a British game called rounders or four-old-cat. An image showing how baseball might have begun was published in 1760. The early history of baseball in America is found in a Special Presentation called Early Baseball Pictures, 1860s - 1920s. You can also trace the events that led to the day in 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke major league baseball's color barrier by visiting By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s - 1960s. This collection on the history of baseball is from the American Memory Web site, which offers more than 100 presentations of materials from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions.

When Jackie Robinson began his rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he became the first African American to play major league baseball in the 20th century, breaking down the "color line" in effect since 1876. In this letter from Jackie Robinson to Ralph Norton, a fellow alumnus of Pasadena Junior College, Robinson reports on his historic debut, the appointment of Burt Shotton as the Dodgers' manager and the well-being of his wife and infant son.

Another collection for fans is Baseball Cards, 1887-1914, which offers 2,100 early baseball cards dating from 1887 to 1914. These colorful cards show such legendary figures as Ty Cobb stealing third base for Detroit, Tris Speaker batting for Boston and pitcher Cy Young posing formally in his Cleveland uniform (see image above). Cigarette card collector Benjamin K. Edwards preserved these baseball cards in albums with more than 12,000 other cards on many subjects. After his death, Edwards' daughter gave the albums to noted poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg, who donated them to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division in 1954. Cy Young, perhaps baseball's most famous pitcher, played for Cleveland. The panoramic photograph above was from a game played there. You can see more than 4,000 panoramic photos on a variety of subjects at Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991. For images of stadiums, click on "Search by Keyword" and type in "stadium." You'll get links to 100 extraordinary images!

Want to learn more about the national pastime? Go to Baseball and Jackie Robinson: Selected Bibliography for a reading list with books for readers of all ages, and you can also find links to related Web sites. The Library's Web site for kids and families, America's Library, includes a Play Ball! section in Join America at Play. And if you really think you're up on your baseball trivia, play the Batter Up! game as well.