Tom McNeely (Canadian, B. 1935) "Baseball" Signed lower right. Original watercolor painting on Paper. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. The repetitive cries of a concessions vendor peddling freshly roasted peanuts and stadium hot dogs; the resounding crack as bat meets ball; the crowd's deafening roar of approval as the batter sails one out of the ballpark and trots leisurely around the bases -- these are the sights and sounds of America's favorite spectator sport. Legend says Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York. Baseball scholars stoutly maintain that the l7th century English game of rounders is the true precursor to the sport, but Alexander J. Cartwright is largely credited with creating in 1845 a standardized version of the game, from which modern baseball evolved. After the Civil War, the game's popularity skyrocketed. Amateur teams sprang up throughout the country, and in 1869 the Cincinnati Red Stockings became America's first professional baseball team. By the early 1900s, America boasted two professional baseball leagues -- National and the American, and in 1905 the first World Series became an annual event. During the 20th century, baseball fever has become a world-wide epidemic, wildly popular in countries such as Japan, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. In 1992, baseball teams from across the globe traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to compete for the first time in the summer Olympic Games. Image Size: 28.5 x 21.5 in. Overall Size: 30 x 22.25 in. Unframed. (B12071)