Batter Up!

Baseball season has officially begun, and in honor of America’s favorite pastime, I’ve put together a list of the top 10 most interesting facts you should know about baseball.

1. The longest game on record was between the Chicago White Sox and the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on May 9, 1984. The game lasted 8 hours 6 minutes and went 25 innings.
2. There is a rule that a pitcher must wipe his hand on his jersey before he grips the ball for a pitch.
3. The first pro baseball game ever to be aired on television was on August 26, 1939. It was a doubleheader between Brooklyn and Cincinnati.
4. The most valuable baseball card ever is the 1909 Honus Wagner T206 baseball card, worth about $2.8 million.
5. The oldest player to hit a home run was Julio Franco (1958– ) of the New York Mets. He was 47 years and 240 days old when he hit a home run on April 20, 2006.
6. The National Baseball Hall of Fame is located in Cooperstown, New York, and was established in 1935.
7. Baseball gloves have evolved more than any other piece of the sport’s equipment.
8. The Boston Americans won baseball’s first World Series in 1903.
9. A baseball pitcher’s curveball can curve over 17 inches away from a straight line toward home plate.
10. “Cranks” was an early term for baseball fans in the late 1880s. The term “fan” is said to be a shortened form of “fanatic.”

So grab your baseball hats and settle in with a box of crackerjacks to celebrate the beginning of baseball season and catch a game. Go team!