Editing Spread of baseball project

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A history of the early playing of baseball and the locations and people involved. This project is associated with '''SABR's Origins Research Committee'''. 
* To learn more about the committee, visit the [http://research.sabr.org/origins/committee-info Origins committee site]. 
* For an introduction to the current state of knowledge on the origins of the modern game, visit the [http://research.sabr.org/origins/resources resources page] on the committee site.
* For more information on the project and how to contribute research, view the [http://research.sabr.org/origins/spread Spread of Baseball project page].
* For records of games, clubs, and predecessor games, just continue down this page.

== The Project ==
Modern baseball is first seen in the Knickerbocker Rules, which were written in 1845 in New York City. By the late 1860s, “baseball fever” had carried the “New York game” far and wide in North America, and the worldwide spread began. We hope that a community effort to dig up facts on its arrival in many local areas will allow us to see how (and eventually, why) baseball reached some areas early and others only later on. In each locality, we hope to learn:

* When the first game occurred that used modern rules
* When the first local baseball club formed
* What game or games preceded modern baseball

Even in the mid-1850s, US newspapers were reporting much more cricket and horse-racing than baseball. That all changed, and dramatically. We’re asking when, how, and why, baseball so suddenly ensconced itself as America’s national pastime.

== Where early baseball was played ==
The number next to each region indicates how many records the project currently has in that region. The project currently contains a total of '''{{#expr: {{#ask: [[Origins-game-locale::+]]|format=count}} + {{#ask: [[Origins-club-locale::+]]|format=count}} + {{#ask: [[Origins-pregame-locale::+]]|format=count}} }}''' records of early baseball and predecessor games.
=== United States ===
<center>{{#ask: [[Origins-location-region::the United States]]
| ?Origins-location-name=Name
| format=list
| template=Origins-location-list
| link=None
| sort=Origins-location-name
| limit = 2000
}}</center>

=== North and South America ===
<center>{{#ask: [[Origins-location-region::North and South America ]]
| ?Origins-location-name=Name
| format=list
| template=Origins-location-list
| link=None
| sort=Origins-location-name
| limit = 2000
}}</center>

=== Europe and Asia ===
<center>{{#ask: [[Origins-location-region::Europe and Asia ]]
| ?Origins-location-name=Name
| format=list
| template=Origins-location-list
| link=None
| sort=Origins-location-name
| limit = 2000
}}</center>

=== Africa, Oceania, and other areas ===
<center>{{#ask: [[Origins-location-region::Africa, Oceania, and other areas ]]
| ?Origins-location-name=Name
| format=list
| template=Origins-location-list
| link=None
| sort=Origins-location-name
| limit = 2000
}}</center>
== Compiled information ==
These pages have a master list of all approved games, clubs, and predecessor games. Each also contains a link at the top for a CSV download of the data in the tables.
=== Lists of firsts ===
These lists include the first known game and club of baseball played and formed in each U.S. state and foreign country.
* [[List of earliest baseball games]]
* [[List of earliest baseball clubs]]
* [[Other firsts in baseball]]
=== Lists of all records ===
* [[List of all early baseball games]]
* [[List of all early baseball clubs]] 
* [[List of all baseball predecessor games]]
{{page-indexterm|Early baseball;origins;spread}}