Baseball required a smaller land area than cricket and, more importantly, its defined innings generated timely outcomes, which cricket's multi-day play often did not. 

Another subtle reason for the national baseball acceptance was its home-grown roots, an American made sport untethered from its British origins. The cricket-baseball history serves as a predecessor to what happened when gridiron football appeared in the 1880s at east coast universities; immediate approval and no significant opposition to its rugby replacement. In the United States, rugby arrived in 1875, flourished for a few years, and then mostly disappeared. 

Camp's Scoring Modifications

Walter Camp cited his own personal rugby experience at Yale for advocating a radical transformation in the game.  On one occasion, he was streaking in for a try when the final whistle blew, and the play nullified.  It would be one of many of rugby's rules that he vowed to adjust. He dominated the Rules Committee of Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA), comprised of "The Big Three" (Harvard, Yale, Princeton), and other eastern colleges.

Camp's 1883 scoring alterations generated a new emphasis to the running aspect of the gridiron game.  Most critically, he awarded points, finally, for a touchdown. Touchdown 4 points.  Conversion 4 points.  Field Goal 5 points. Safety 2  points.  (The safety was Camp's invention, an unusual award for an uncommon defensive achievement.)

Statistics demonstrate the difference between old rugby and new gridiron scoring. In 1882, Yale tallied 80 points in its 8-0 undefeated season.  In 1883, after the IFA adopted Camp's scoring changes, the Eli notched an astounding 540 points.

Camp's All-American Selection

To promote gridiron throughout the nation, Camp came up with the novel idea in 1889 of the first All-American Team, naming the best footballers in the nation. Together with publisher Caspar Whitney, the duo printed the list in the popular magazine This Weeks Sports. Of course, the first list of 11 players were from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Walter Camp’s All-American selections were then published annually in Collier’s Weekly. This singular accolade originated national athletic recognition that has proliferated since at all amateur and professional levels, including All-American, All-Star, and All-Conference selections.

Three notable players from that 1889 team were Amos Alonzo Stagg, William "Pudge" Heffelfinger, and Knowlton Ames.  Stagg, an end at Yale, coached at the University of Chicago from 1892 to 1932. Heffelfinger, a lineman at Yale, became the first paid professional in 1892. Ames, a back from Princeton, holds the all-time gridiron scoring record, amassing 720 points (62 touchdowns) in a season. 

Yale's Gridiron Dominance

In the years it played rugby, Yale lost only one contest, a defeat to Princeton. The Tigers also managed three drawn matches. The switch to gridiron continued the Eli's mastery of all IFA member colleges. From 1882 to 1890, Yale's record was 89-3-2. Data follow:

Year Record Points For/Against

1882 8-0   80-01

1883 9-0 540-02

1884 6-0-1* 495-10

1885 7-1* 366-11

1886 9-0-1* 687-04

1887 9-0 515-12

1888 13-0 694-00

1889 15-1* 659-31

1890 13-1** 486-18  (17,000 attendance in Springfield, Mass.)

* Princeton  ** Harvard

To maintain gridiron predominance over IFA opposition, Yale embarked on a questionably fair initiative of placing public high school seniors into eastern private schools for an extra year. Here, their grades improved in this initial redshirting scheme in college sports. Every year, Yale's football team welcomed a new wave of talented, older freshman.

Farewell Rugby

Once the Rules Committee approved his ideas, Camp published an official IFA Rules Book, which he distributed to eastern colleges. He was also available to answer questions by mail. College by college switched to the new gridiron format. It was a gradual changeover, with some schools playing some rugby, mainly, pickup games within colleges like Freshmen versus Sophomores. In 1888, Camp permitted tackling below the waist, a necessary change to reduce the frequency of open field runs.

The fine British sport of rugby gave way to the  new American game of gridiron football. The latter would capture the hearty acceptance of the nation, Down the road would see forward passing allowed in 1906, and four downs to make ten yards in 1914. Over time, players would adopt protective equipment to cushion the hard bone against bone contact.

John Heisman, who started at Brown and finished at Penn Law, became a successful football coach, a brilliant strategist with many college elevens. He said, "Rugby is a game for the players, football is a game for the coaches."