Football, baseball and basketball were considered distinctly American sports. In Britain, a version of football went under the name of "rugby," while baseball and basketball were virtually unknown.

Outdoor Games (Collier's Cyclopedia, 1882)

Baseball, Tennis, Croquet, Cricket, and many others.

The Games and Amusements of the Month: September

La Crosse; baseball; tricycle-riding.

The Games and Amusements of the Month: October

Football; hockey; rhyming/counting games; frog-pond; will o' the wisp

The American Game of Football, by Alexander Johnston (Century Magazine, 1887B)

Baseball for the Spectator, by Walter Camp (Century Magazine, 1889B)

Rugby Union Football, by H. Vassall (English Illustrated Magazine, 1890A)

Football [Rugby] Past and Present (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1893)

Foot-Ball in Our Colleges, by William Conant Church (Century Magazine, 1894A)

The Current Criticism of Foot-Ball, by Walter Camp (Century Magazine, 1894A)

Injuries, over-popularity, commercialism and the controversy of "a football game on Thanksgiving" are some of the issues discussed here.

The Growth of Rugby Football, by J.F. Ramsay (Windsor Magazine, 1896A)

Football in Armour, by Charles Emerson Cook (The Strand, 1897A)

A look at American football costumes of the 1890's.

Rugby Football: Some Hints on Forward Play, by J. Daniell (Windsor Magazine, 1902A)

Baseball, the American National Game, by Albert G. Spalding (Drapers' Self-Culture, 1913)

Basketball, by Jas. Nasmith (Drapers' Self-Culture, 1913)

The author is listed as the "inventor of basketball."

Football, by Frank D. Woodworth (Drapers' Self-Culture, 1913)