I would like to suggest some very interesting reading related to this discussion. Just one of many websites avilable on the internet, the following text was copied and pasted from this link:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/doubledy.htm
(START of COPY)
John Thorn of Kingston is a nationally renowned baseball historian and author.
'I think Abner Doubleday is a nice father figure for the game,' he said. 'For historians and students of the game, it's no more helpful than Santa Claus, Zeus or the Easter Bunny.'
Thorn readily acknowledges that Doubleday distinguished himself with many great accomplishments during his lifetime.
'One of these accomplishments is not the invention of baseball,' he said. 'It's kind of like George Washington and the cherry tree. It draws a useful legend for children and it has a sweet sound to it for adults.'
(END of COPY)
Now if this were true, I believe any future historian would be politically correct to re-write their own revisionist version of baseball history. He may also add Abner Doubleday to the list of popular baseball myths. Then he may re-write the history of baseball to coincide with any other major deveolpment of the industrial age; i.e. the development of the electricity, the automobile, etc.