Baseball was invented in 1839 by Abner Doubleday and became a professional sport in 1871, though its professional founders around 1870 were never publicly identified. Typical salaries for MLB players in 2015 ranged from $507,500 minimum to a normal $4,250,000, while the highest paid player of all time was Alex Rodriguez at $29,000,000 annually. The document also mentions that the author's favorite player is Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who is paid $7.25 million per year.