Photos

Although most historians agree the game of baseball orginated from the English game called rounders,there are few things more American than baseball. Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime."

These days declining participation at the amateur level and protracted labor problems at the professional level have thrust "America's Pastime" into an era of uncertainty. Despite this current adversity, baseball will always occupy an important place in American culture.

The photo above was taken last year at an Atlanta Braves-Philadephia Phillies game.