Baseball's Evolution: From DHs to Robot Umpires

UC Berkeley historian David Henkin's new book explores how baseball has transformed over nearly 200 years, from rule changes to the sport's global footprint.

Mar. 25, 2026 at 10:18am

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In his new book "Out of the Ballpark: How to Think About Baseball", UC Berkeley history professor David Henkin provides an overview of how the sport of baseball has evolved since 1845, when its rules were first formally laid out. Rather than just recounting the sport's greatest moments and players, Henkin's book is "a cultural exploration" that uses baseball as a window into changes in American culture over time, tracing themes like baseball's connection to masculine ideals, race issues, and the "spectacle" of attending a game.

Why it matters

Henkin's work challenges the notion that recent developments like sports betting or robot umpires have irrevocably changed the game, showing that baseball has undergone many transformations throughout its nearly 200-year history. The book also explores baseball's global footprint, with "empires" of influence originating from the U.S., Cuba, and Japan, as well as the sport's complicated relationship with race in America.

The details

Henkin's book contains insights on the history of baseball statistics and the role of figures like Henry Chadwick in shaping the sport's statistical culture. It also delves into the complicated history of race in baseball, noting that Black Americans played professionally in the 19th century until the end of Reconstruction, when racist exclusion by players rather than fans or management led to their elimination from the sport. The book traces how baseball's rules and culture have evolved over time, with many of the biggest changes happening in the 19th century rather than more recently.

  • Henkin's book "Out of the Ballpark: How to Think About Baseball" was published earlier this month.
  • The Automated Ball-Strike feature, which uses technology to dispute high-stakes calls, is being introduced in a limited way in Major League Baseball this season.

The players

David Henkin

A UC Berkeley history professor who has researched and taught on subjects as diverse as Broadway, marriage and the origin of the seven-day week. His new book "Out of the Ballpark: How to Think About Baseball" provides a cultural exploration of how the sport has evolved over nearly 200 years.

Henry Chadwick

A British-born sportswriter whose family moved to New York when he was young. Chadwick played a large role in shaping baseball, its statistical culture and its rules in the mid-19th century, including championing the batting average statistic.

Charlie Grant

A second baseman who unsuccessfully attempted to become the first Black player in the American League in 1901 by claiming to be Cherokee, since some Indigenous and Latino players had been allowed to compete.

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What they’re saying

“As a spectator sport, it is indigenously American - it originated here. That doesn't mean it's uniquely American; it's obviously not. I'd estimate that more people outside of the United States than inside it have followed or watched a baseball game in the last year.”

— David Henkin, UC Berkeley history professor

“Focusing on international relations in the 19th century explains more than analyzing whether the game itself was appealing. On the island of Hispaniola, you have the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic, which is one of the dominant sites of professional baseball play. Every major league team now has an academy there for school-aged players to discover the sport's next star. On the other side of the island in Haiti, baseball doesn't even register. In that case, it really is about French and Spanish, and the longstanding relationship that people in the Dominican Republic had to Cuban media, which people in Haiti did not share.”

— David Henkin, UC Berkeley history professor

What’s next

The Automated Ball-Strike feature, which uses technology to dispute high-stakes calls, is being introduced in a limited way in Major League Baseball this season, signaling further technological changes to come in the sport.

The takeaway

Henkin's book challenges the notion that recent developments like sports betting or robot umpires have fundamentally altered baseball, showing that the sport has undergone many transformations throughout its nearly 200-year history. His cultural exploration of baseball's evolution provides important context for understanding the game's past, present, and future.