40 Interesting Facts You Don’t Know About Baseball

baseball facts

No.	Fact
1	Baseball is often referred to as “America’s Pastime.”
2	The first recorded baseball game was played in 1846.
3	Abner Doubleday is often credited with inventing baseball, although this is disputed.
4	A regulation baseball has 108 stitches.
5	The New York Yankees have won the most World Series titles, with 27 championships.
6	The fastest recorded pitch in MLB history is 105.1 mph, thrown by Aroldis Chapman.
7	A baseball can reach speeds of up to 150 mph when hit.
8	Babe Ruth, often called “The Great Bambino,” is one of baseball’s greatest legends.
9	Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in MLB in 1947.
10	Cooperstown, New York, is home to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
11	The shortest game in MLB history lasted just 51 minutes.
12	“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is a popular baseball song.
13	The distance between bases in baseball is 90 feet.
14	The first night game in MLB was played in 1935.
15	The World Series trophy is known as the Commissioner’s Trophy.
16	The Chicago Cubs ended a 108-year championship drought in 2016.
17	The “Curse of the Bambino” haunted the Boston Red Sox for 86 years until 2004.
18	Baseball gloves were initially considered “unchristian” and not allowed on the field.
19	Pitchers in the National League still bat, while in the American League, the designated hitter (DH) is used.
20	Hank Aaron held the home run record for over three decades before it was broken by Barry Bonds.
21	The San Francisco Giants played in New York before relocating to California.
22	Baseballs used in the major leagues are rubbed with a special mud to make them less slippery.
23	The fastest triple play in MLB history took just 12 seconds.
24	The oldest baseball stadium still in use is Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.
25	“The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” refers to Bobby Thomson’s famous home run in 1951.
26	Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, was the last MLB stadium to install lights for night games.
27	Nolan Ryan holds the record for the most career strikeouts in MLB history.
28	The All-Star Game determines home-field advantage for the World Series.
29	Pitcher Cy Young holds the record for the most career wins with 511.
30	Lou Gehrig famously declared himself “The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth” in his farewell speech.
31	The “Black Sox Scandal” involved players from the Chicago White Sox intentionally losing the 1919 World Series.
32	The term “can of corn” refers to an easy, high-fly ball.
33	“The Curse of the Billy Goat” plagued the Chicago Cubs for over 70 years until 2016.
34	The “Pine Tar Incident” involved George Brett’s disputed home run in 1983.
35	The Montreal Expos, now the Washington Nationals, were the first MLB team located outside the United States.
36	The fastest stolen base in MLB history was recorded at 2.4 seconds.
37	The Atlanta Braves have won the most consecutive division titles in MLB history, with 14.
38	The distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is 60 feet, 6 inches.
39	“The Say Hey Kid,” Willie Mays, is known for his iconic over-the-shoulder catch.
40	The New York Mets won their first World Series title in 1969, just seven years after their founding.