Where did the term "stike" used in baseball originate?
150729
Apparently from the game of cricket where the batter is known as the "striker".
496707
Here are a couple theories that sound vaguely plausible, but probably aren't true, to tide you over while I do some research.  I'll be back if I find anything else that seems more likely.\n\nGreat question!\n\nEDIT:  All right, here's one that sounds pretty good to me:  "Another, perhaps somewhat more likely, theory comes not from the use of relievers, but rather from late-arriving fans. In the 1870s, and perhaps earlier, after the game had started tickets would be sold at a discount.\nThese late arriving fans with cheap tickets would be herded into a roped-off, standing-room-only area in foul territory. Because the fans were herded in like cattle, the area was known as the bullpen. In 1877 the Cincinnati Enquirer used the term to describe this practice. The name for this area of foul territory stuck, and later when relief pitchers became part of the game, they used this area of foul territory to warm up. After that, the term bullpen stuck to relievers."\n\nFollow the second link to get the full discussion that this answer came from.
415236
baseball. Home is refering to home plate.
221994
The origins of baseball go back to the late 18th century--and not to Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York.  It is related to the still-popular British cricket and the lesser-known Irish game rounders.\n\nThe first recorded beginnings of baseball are found in the "Knickerbocker Rules" written in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright for his Manhattan team, which essentially established the rules baseball is still played by today.  The rules suggest the game had been played in some form prior to that, but it is uncertain actually when.\n\nWhile I can find no reference to Maine and the origins of the game, it is likely that some version of cricket and/or rounders may have been played there which evolved into more of what baseball is.  Historians, however, seem to be in agreement that baseball evolved from amateur urban teams (similar to the Knickerbockers) into the beginnings of professional baseball by 1870.\n\nHere's more on the origins of baseball from Wikipedia:
702663
The foul pole appears to have evolved from the foul lines themselves. According to photos from the Baseball Hall of Fame, foul lines in pre-1900 ballparks extended only halfway down the line from first and third base to the outfield fence or wall. Eventually the foul lines reached the outfield wall. Subsequently, a white stripe was painted vertically on the wall perpendicular to the foul line.\n\nAround the turn of the century, short, white, wooden foul poles approximately 10-15 feet high were erected. Hall of Fame umpire Jocko Conlan recalled, "In some parks, the foul poles were placed on the playing field in front of the outf1eld fence. If a ball hit the pole above the line of the outfield fence, it was a home run. If the ball struck the pole below the line of the fence, the ball was in play."\n\nMany years ago there was a disparity between the two leagues regarding balls that hit the foul pole above the fence then landed foul. The American League ruled such hits ground-rule doubles, whereas the National League declared such batted balls home runs which is currently the interpretation for both leagues
1018955
To be honest, I always thought it had something to do with a "knock out"; but I found this on Wikipedia:\n\nIn scoring, a swinging strikeout is recorded as a K, or a K-S. Some scorers record strikeouts where the batter didn't swing at the last pitch with a backwards-facing K, also recorded as K-C. The use of "K" for a strikeout was invented by Henry Chadwick, a newspaper journalist. The letter "S" was used to coin "sacrifice" so Mr. Chadwick decided to use "K", with "K" being the last letter in "struck".
105701
I played outfield. We had a coach who used to set a pitching machine at maximum speed from home plate to toss balls high into the outfield.  we had to stand and point to where the ball was going to land rather than run and catch it (that came later)  It was great practice for judging the flight of the ball and being able to anticipate where to run to catch the ball.
207371
A.J. Spaulding (of Spaulding sporting goods fame and also the first comissionare of baseball) wanted Baseball to be an American invented game. So in his book on the history of baseball he credits Abner Doubleday with inventing the game. Doubleday however should only be credited with the layout of the bases as we know them today.\n\nA few summers ago a old law was found in a small town in Mass. that predates the year Doubleday supposedly invented baseball. The law outlaws the playing of baseball at certain times of the day. So there was a form of baseball in the US before the base layout of Doubleday as we know it.\n\nIn Britain there was a game called baseball and other games called one old hat and two old hat that have similiarities to baseball and may be how the game was introduced to the US.\n\nThe game has under gone many changes since the start. With the mound moved back from 40 feet to 50 feet to 60.5 feet, the mound dropped from 16 inches to 10 inches, the pitch was initially underhand, the ball was smaller in diameter and so on. So no matter where the game was invented and when, it really is an American invention.
355433
All baseball stadiums were made with the home plate on the W side of the stadium.  Thus south was left from home and south was right from home.  If you're standing on the mound, your left are is towards the south.  Here's a link:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southpaw\n\n"The generally accepted origins of the term is from baseball. Ballparks are often designed so that the batter is facing east to avoid the afternoon or evening sun shining in his eyes. This means that left-handed pitchers are throwing from the south side. The first usage is credited to Finley Peter Dunne. However, the Oxford English Dictionary lists a non-baseball citation for "south paw", meaning a punch with the left hand, as early as 1848[8], just three years after the first organized baseball game.\n\nIn boxing a left handed boxer is usually refered to as southpaw. They are often considered a more tricky opponent than the more common right-hander. The term is also used to refer to a stance in which the boxer places his right foot in front of his left."
1107267
It's based partially on the english game of rounders. The distinct evolution of baseball from among the various bat-and-ball games is difficult to pin down. However, it is mainly agreed that modern baseball is an American development from earlier British games, such as rounders, with possible influences from cricket.\n\nThe earliest known mention of the sport is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "base-ball" (showing a similar set-up to the modern game, yet significantly different) and a rhymed description of the sport.\n\nAlexander Cartwright had a hand in compiling and publishing an early list of rules in 1845 (the so-called Knickerbocker Rules) to meet the demands of the already popular sport, and today's rules of baseball have evolved from them.
1102945
Pioneering sportswriter Henry Chadwick, who developed a detailed scoring system in the late 19th century, assigned a letter to each possible play. According to Chadwick, “K” was the prominent letter in the word “strike.”
733487
England.  I borrowed this from another answer: 'The earliest known mention of the sport is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "base-ball," showing a set-up roughly similar to the modern game, and a rhymed description of the sport.'\n\nIn the United States, the rules were first codified in 1845.  It is based on two English games, rounders and cricket.  There are references to baseball in the USA going back to 1791.  Baseball as we know it was also once called the "New York" game, there being a variant more like cricket that was called the "Massachusetts" game.  Nonetheless, these developments were American in origin.\n\nChina isn't even in the running.  There wasn't even that much direct trade with China when baseball was developed, though it was growing.  India was the big market.  Whatever the Chinese were playing, it was their own game, not baseball, which was introduced later.
413339
Definitely. Baseball has been around a long time, and every record ever set has to be placed in the context of its era, but this is the first time a large number of statistics are called into question because of behavior that was banned shortly thereafter. People will forever assume that everyone who hit more than 60 homers since Roger Maris, did so with the help of chemistry, not just natural strength, hand-eye coordination and hard work.
726661
It is a baseball term.\n\nWhen there are no runners on base, a pitcher "winds up" to make a pitch, using his whole body to put more speed on the ball.  However, if there are runners on-base, it is easier for them to steal a base if the pitcher "winds-up".  To prevent this, a pitcher will throw "from the stretch" or "out of the stretch" meaning that he makes much less of a motion before throwing the ball.
604672
A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term cricket. The name may derive from a term for the cricket bat: old French criquet (meaning a kind of club) or Flemish krick(e) (meaning a stick) or in Old English crycc (meaning a crutch or staff). (The latter is problematic, since Old English 'cc' was palatal in pronunciation in the south and the west midlands, roughly ch, which is how crycc leads to crych and thence crutch; the 'k' sound would be possible in the north, however.) Alternatively, the French criquet apparently derives from the Flemish word krickstoel, which is a long low stool on which one kneels in church and which resembles the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.
339057
As The Straight Dope explains, we owe the "K" to an early sportswriter named Henry Chadwick. In fact, Chadwick and another writer named M.J. Kelly are largely responsible for the scoring system baseball uses today. \nBut whence the K? Chadwick already had "S" slated for "sacrifice." So a strikeout became a "K", after the last letter of the word "struck." The reason a strikeout isn't a "T" is because "struck" was the preferred term of the day. \n\nWhile we tend to side with the Straight Dope (which cites Pete Palmer's book Total Baseball and Neil Cohen's article "How to Score a Game" as its sources), you can read some other creative "K" theories on this baseball message board. We especially like "the three lines in a K, three strikes in a strikeout" suggestion.
507859
As much as anyone can be credited with inventing baseball, Alexander Cartwright is that person.  His 1845 Knickerbocker rules are the earliest ones that can be directly recognizable as baseball.\n\nThe National League is generally recognized as the first true major league; it began play in 1876.  It was a reformation of the National Association, which had begun play in 1871 but was not as cohesive of an organization.  The term "Major League" can be traced to the 1883 "National Agreement" that established the NL and the American Association as "Major Leagues" and all other leagues as "minor leagues."  Besides the National League, other leagues that are recognized as having been Major Leagues are:\n\nAmerican Association: 1882-1891 (several teams joined the NL after the AA's demise)\nUnion Association: 1884\nPlayers League: 1890\nAmerican League: 1901-Present\nFederal League: 1914-1915