About Passing the Time with America’s Favorite Pastime

Is baseball really “America’s favorite pastime”? Is the sport so closely intertwined with the country’s social, political, and economic fabric that its games reflect the situation of the U.S. throughout history? This blog seeks to use moments from baseball’s long, sometimes troubled history to better understand the equally long and sometimes troubling history of our country.

As American baseball pioneer and businessman Albert Spalding wrote in 1911:

Photo of Albert Spalding from the 1907 edition of Spalding's Official Athletic Almanac

“To enter upon a deliberate argument to prove that baseball is our national game; that it has all the attributes of American origin, American character, and unbounded public favor in America, seems a work of supererogation. It is to undertake the elucidation of a patent fact; the sober demonstration of an axiom; it is like a solemn declaration that two plus two equals four.”

Welcome to: Passing the Time with America’s Favorite Pastime.