If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Last night I went with my family – immediate and extended – to a baseball game followed by a fireworks show. There is something about spending Independence Day at a baseball game that feels very American. It feels right.
Baseball is America’s favorite pastime for many reasons. The game symbolizes America in many ways, from the individual performances that make some teams great, to the pure meritocracy that pushes the best players to the top, to the capitalist approach players use to sell their services.
The game thrived in the dynamic that was 20th century U.S.A. The powerful economy not only meant that people had money for tickets and souvenirs but leisure time to attend baseball games, listen to them on radio or watch on them TV. Visionary owners, some good people, others downright rotten, made the most of capitalism to build the teams, leagues, and stadiums.
For all the evil imagery the word, “Capitalism,” evokes today, baseball flourished in part because of it.
The game itself is very American and capitalistic. The players come from all over the world to play in the U.S. It is a game that is both fun and serious, business and entertainment. Boys and girls, men and women of all ages play baseball. Many dream of the big leagues. But in the truest sense of the American ideals of merit above all else, only the best make it to the show.
Baseball is a game of individual accomplishment and team effort. There is an old and rather silly saying that there is no “I” in Team. The saying is supposed to mean that teams have to work together as a unit in order to win. Absolutely true. But no where near the whole truth.
A championship team is a collection of individuals, each excelling at their individual roles on the team and in their position on the field and in the lineup. Because they excel in their individual performance they excel at teamwork – Teamwork is based on individual excellence.
Baseball players make it to the professional level through hard work, dedication, and talent. The rewards for their success include vast amounts of money, and if they are among the best of the best, fan adulation. Most of all, they are rewarded with the opportunity to play this great game of baseball with the others that are also among the best in the world.
America’s favorite pastime is capitalistic.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Isn’t football more popular that baseball in the US?
Unfortunately, every fall you hear the same thing about the money aspect – the playoffs and the world series are played at night to maximize revenue, at the cost of losing younger fans to bedtimes. (And some of us older fans with only a passing interest in the game).
It took them years to finally come to a drug testing policy that actually had any sort of teeth. The punishments were fairly slight until recently.
One could go on about some of stars of the game and how they’re treated by the press and fans – Bonds, McGuire, etc., but I don’t have the interest anymore.
I’m fairly cynical about professional baseball, but it has its moments.