Brendan Lukens and Jake Ewald were high school friends from Brunswick, Maryland, who began as an acoustic duo before relocating to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend college; Lukens at Chestnut Hill College, and Ewald at Drexel University. They then met drummer Sean Huber and bassist Ian Farmer. Their name was inspired by a book that Lukens and Ewald found entitled “Modern Baseball Techniques", which was owned by Ewald's father on the evening they decided to form a band. The quartet got their start playing house shows around Drexel University in the basement scene alongside bands like The Menzingers, Lee Hartney, Ted Nguyent and Cayetana. Huber and Farmer joined midway into the recording of the group's first album, which was recorded at Drexel's studios. That album, Sports, was released in 2012, and soon after the group left Drexel and Chestnut Hill temporarily to pursue music on a more regular basis. The group's second full-length album, You're Gonna Miss It All, was released on Run For Cover Records in 2014, reaching #97 on the Billboard 200. The group toured the United States in early 2014 with The Wonder Years. Modern Baseball toured the United Kingdomin September 2014. The band spoke ahead of their tour explaining how they manage their busy schedules. This followed a tour of the United States in a headlining spot with other bands Knuckle Puck, Foxing, Crying, and Somos. In late 2015, the band announced plans for their third album that would be released in 2016 through Run For Cover Records, titled Holy Ghost. On February 25, 2016, the band announced that their third studio album "Holy Ghost" would be released on May 13 via Run For Cover and on Big Scary Monsters in the UK/Europe. In May 2016, Modern Baseball embarked on The Holy Ghost Tour with Thin Lips and Joyce Manor. In fall 2016, Modern Baseball supported Brand New on tour along with The Front Bottoms. In December 2016, Ewald released the album Welcome as Slaughter Beach, Dog on Lame-O Records.
Hiatus
In January 2017, Brendan Lukens released a statement saying he would not be joining the band on their upcoming Europe/UK tour, instead opting to stay at home to focus on his mental and physical well-being. In February 2017 the band announced that they would be cancelling their US tour and taking a break to help protect their mental health and friendships. The group played no shows in the spring of 2017, during which time Ewald and Farmer worked on producing Ewald's project Slaughter Beach, Dog, and Lukens and Huber worked on solo material. When interviewed in June 2017, Ewald remarked, "let's not call it a breakup and make a huge deal about it and have a "Last Show Ever" or anything like that. Let's just take it easy for now, and if we wake up an want to do it again, then let's do it." A few shows followed; in July 2017, Modern Baseball played a one-off show with Daniel Johnston as part of his final US tour, and in October 2017, the band played three consecutive shows in their hometown of Philadelphia. In an October 2017 interview, Ewald confirmed that the band had no plans to play any more shows for the indefinite future.
