The American Game: How a Myth Became a Legend, and Then Became a Brand

by Cliff Gillock

Vintage 1880s baseball.

Ask any one who invented baseball and if they have any answer at all, chances are they will mention Abner Doubleday and maybe Cooperstown, New York. After all, isn’t that the location of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum? Yes.

And no. 

For many years, Abner Doubleday was credited with having invented The Game out of whole cloth, right there at Cooperstown in 1839. The rest is history.

Well, not exactly. In fact, not at all.

Abner Doubleday was a U. S. Army officer who later distinguished himself at Gettysburg in the Civil War. In 1839, however, he was still a cadet at West Point. There is no evidence of his ever visiting Cooperstown in any capacity. He certainly had no time or inclination to “invent” a game or even witness such an event. It is not known if he ever saw a baseball game; it was popularized and spread by the soldiers playing during the war, so it’s possible.

So how did this enduring myth become the popular notion about the origin of the game? And what’s up with Cooperstown?

Until around 1905, little thought was given to baseball’s origin. By then a former player, manager, club owner and astute businessman had become a giant in the sporting goods business. Albert G. Spalding imagined, in a typically American way, that given the now popularity of baseball, it might be good for business if baseball could be shown to be a uniquely American game.

Spalding had for some time had a running conversation with an associate about the subject. The friend believed, correctly, that the game was not “invented” per se, but evolved from a number of stick-and-ball games such as Cricket and Rounders, and other games popular among boys in England.

Abner Doubleday

Spalding decided to settle the controversy once and for all. He organized a commission to investigate baseball’s origin. His opinion was somewhat skewed by some vague information he had received in a letter form an old, old man, a native of Cooperstown, who reminisced about memories of a schoolmate –Doubleday– who, the man claimed, had written and drawn up the game one afternoon right there in Cooperstown.

This scenario fit perfectly into Spalding’s plan, and with his encouragement (not to mention coercion) to the commission, it was determined that “according to the best evidence obtainable to date, baseball was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown.” Said and done.

Beginning well before the Civil War, baseball had been played in towns and cities, vacant lots, school yards, and streets all over America by boys, men, even girls according to their own local rules, which varied greatly.

Some time around 1842, baseball began to get organized. A group of young men in Manhattan began to gather regularly to form loose knit teams to play each other in one form of the game or another. Finally, in 1845, a young entrepreneur named Alexander Cartwright organized twenty-eight of these men to become the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club. The players came from many walks of life; their primary requirement was “to be at liberty after 3 o’clock in the afternoon”.

Cartwright and some of his associates had endeavored to codify the rules of baseball to bring consistency to the way the game was to be played. Those rules became the basis of baseball as we know it and is played today.

Image of a game in the 1880s - notice no glove!

Now the game began to take hold. Scheduled games were now drawing sizable crowds. Even so, for many years in New York, baseball remained rigidly a gentleman’s game and strictly amateur.

But as the game spread it became decidedly less gentile and amateurism ultimately began to recede. In 1869, the first openly professional ball club took the field: the Cincinnati Red Stockings. With the realization that patrons would actually pay to see such a team the floodgates opened. American enterprise took charge. Baseball became our game…and our business.

Move ahead to 1936. The “100th Anniversary “ of baseball would be observed in three years.

In Cooperstown, a local resident thought an exhibition of a collection of baseball artifacts night generate some interest. After all Cooperstown had been “officially” declared the home of the “invention” of baseball by Abner Doubleday in 1839.

The idea took hold. With significant backing from wealthy local resources, it was decided to establish a National Baseball Museum “for the purpose of collecting and preserving pictures and relics reflecting the development of the National Game from the time of its inception, through the ingenuity of Major General Abner Doubleday in 1839 to the present.”

The first nine - first team ever.

Ford Frick, the president of the National League, expanded the idea: “create a permanent National Hall of Fame to be built and dedicated on the now recognized centennial of America’s Game.” A commission selected the first five members: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson.

Now The National Pastime–the brand, if you will–was secured. Through depression, wartime, good times and bad, baseball became inextricably woven into the fabric of American life. Even today, 177 years after Abner, it remains so.

Perhaps, at least on the professional level, baseball has been eclipsed by football and television and the spectacle of the Super Bowl. Even so, millions of children, from age six on, play baseball. Spectator attendance in sparkling state-of the-art stadiums is at an all-time high. Revenues are in the billions of dollars. It’s organized, polished and maybe overly supervised. But baseball is still a vital part of our lives. Part myth. Part legend.

And All-American.

References: Ken Burns Baseball-An Illustrated History
Baseball As America: Seeing ourselves through our National Game

Cliff Gillock is a prominent figure in the marcom world, having advised epic brands, including Exxon, Shell and Gulf Oil. He twice served as chair of the AAF-Houston President’s Council, won a national ADDY and received an AAF-Houston Silver Medal in 2007. Gillock was also a curator for the AAF-Houston legacy exhibit. Learn more about Cliff and other contributors on the Knights of the Round Table page.

Branded Pulpit.

Presidential election years are heated, and 2016 shows no sign of cooling. Perhaps more so than in recent years, this election is a genuinely defining one for the direction of the United States. Some of the issues on the electoral hotsheet would have been wholly inconceivable by the Founding Fathers, such as cyber warfare and the seemingly uncoagulated enemy of ISIS; while others that are covered in the Constitution remain perpetual subjects of American debate, such as the Second Amendment, immigration, tax reform, and so on.

The next president will face challenges that, from his or her solutions, will echo into the 22nd century. While not easing such a burden, the 45th POTUS may find inspiration from predecessors who've, at the very least, faced equally defining moments at their intersections with history.

Therefore, submitted for your approval...

George Washington - George Washington set the standard. It is by his example that all successive presidents are judged. His leadership style established many forms and rituals since used by our government, including an advisory cabinet, delivering an inaugural address, even serving only two terms. Most important, however, he led the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history. He is an icon of liberty and independence.

Abraham Lincoln - A commercial for Geico depicts Abraham Lincoln, the husband, with what is arguably the most treacherous question ever put to any married man. "Does this dress make my backside look big?" Wrapped in a pregnant pause, he struggles against his own compulsion toward honesty, resisting the painful and obvious answer, making this spot a beautifully humorous capture of the man and his brand promise.


Theodore Roosevelt - When you think about the old west, you most likely conger up characters like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Doc Holiday and the Earp brothers. But shortly after these cowboys rode off into the sunset of history, another cowboy appeared on the scene, his name was Theodore Roosevelt, who along the way became the 26th President of the United States. Elected in 1901, America’s economy and society were rapidly changing and Roosevelt, with his enormous energy and vision, put the U.S. on a path of prosperity that would last throughout the 20th century.


Franklin D. Roosevelt - He (or she) who holds the office of President of the United States, at any moment in history, places their individual stamp on the position. And one such presidential brand is Franklin Delano Roosevelt, otherwise known as FDR. He served as the 32nd elected president. And he is noted for three things—that he won a record four terms as president, took over the presidency during the Great Depression, and led America through most of World War II. He is also the architect of the New Deal, which continues to influence US politics today. He is both revered and reviled.

Branded Devotion

Faith is a belief, a trust, and a confidence in something not necessarily empirically provable. In this particular case faith is about God, however one may see their creator, assuming one believes in a creative intelligence that is behind the existence of the universe. Some will cringe at this statement, but faith is the ultimate in brand loyalty. Most faithful worship “in the faith of their fathers.” Some break away to join other religions or communities because of disillusionment with their inherited religion, or because of stronger attributes of another. Regardless of the faith, however, devotion to such can a powerful force. It has been known to give profound inspiration and courage to do great deeds. From the Judeo-Christian perspective, Abraham had whole and complete faith in his Lord—shaken sometimes, yes. But his faith helped him overcome fear and doubt. The biblical heroes, Noah, Moses and David owe their successes and deeds to their faith in God. Later, Constantine, Joan of Arch, and Charlemagne would depend on their faith to help them overcome great struggles—militarily, politically and personally. More recent deeds of astounding compassion are recorded about those who work for the unfortunate—Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa and other missionaries across the globe.

Spiritual inspiration and extraordinary deeds akin to King David are not exclusive to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Alexander believed he was the son of Zeus. Genghis Khan believed his very name was of divine authority—translated it means God’s punisher. There are the hero epics in the Hindu faith, and also the great epics of King Gesar in Buddhism. And, of course, Islam would lead off with Muhammad.

Acts of compassion, defending the faith from hordes of non-believers, building a great community for God—all of these things in our history, good and bad, come from faith. Humans, it seems, take great strength from the powers of Heaven. So for this installment, we assemble a number of posts that would not exist, were it not for a powerful inspiration from above.

Therefore, submitted for your approval...

A goliath brand - David is an epic figure in the Judeo-Christian tradition. He is the ultimate representation of the victorious little guy, underdog, runt of the litter. And he was a huge headache to the Philistines. So influential was Davis, that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have a claim on him. 

Brand everlasting - At the core of the Christian brand is Christ himself, Jesus of Nazareth and Son of God. Christians profess their faith that Jesus was born of a virgin, died for the forgiveness of human sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven to later return for judgment day. Those are strong attributes—meaningful to the faithful then and now. And while being born of a virgin is not unique in the history of religious faiths, unlike many other children of the gods, however, this Son of God brought quite a different message—reinforced with an unusual sacrifice.

Forged by fire - No where in history is the power of faith more demonstrable than in Joan of Arc. She was hip deep in a man's world—and and her faith and inspiration from God added to her inherent intelligence and strength of character, allowing her to be a child woman that commanded armies to victory. Joan of Arc is a heroine that burns in the psyche of western civilization as a divine brand brand if there ever was one.

The lady with the lamp - Florence Nightingale lit the way for the entire modern discipline of nursing by creating the world's first secular nursing school in 1860. In doing so, Nightingale embedded herself in western culture as the conjured image of a gentle, concerned and dedicated caregiver. And it was Nightingale's deep belief in God that led her to nursing. And what nurse she was.