What Role Did Baseball Play In American Society

“Whoever would understand the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball,” Jacques Barzun, God’s Country and Mine, 1954. In 1901, the Major League Baseball (MLB) was founded. Between 1901-1960 the MLB hold 16 franchises and all of them located in the Northeast of the United States. Most of the teams at the time also had a Minor team. Together the Majors and the Minors were known as organized baseball. In the early 20th century, baseball had become America’s national sport (until the rise of football in 50s). Back then every boy and girl would learn the game as the matter of the course. As the popularity of the game continued to rise, the major baseball stars were as well-known as the President of the United States; the stars slowly
Other than entertaining the public, baseball serve an important role in the American society; “integrating disparate elements into America’s mainstream culture. In the interwar years, baseball stars from white ethnic backgrounds played a key role in the acculturation of their group into Americans society”(Rubinstein, Step. 2003). Regional differences began to fade as a new national popular culture became part of daily life. Men of all ethnic backgrounds were welcomed into MLB with one exception, African Americans. By the end of World War 2 on September, 2, 1945, African Americans were still segregated, especially in the South. Racial segregation and the Jim Crow laws of 1890s forced black and white America to be separated. Segregation causes the MLB to be segregated for 40 years; no black players played on the field with white players until April, 15, 1947. With Jackie Robinson excellent play on the field and the way he conduct the racial abuse, Robinson help transcend the way white America viewed African
As Robinson played the first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, as expected, Robinson's presence produced a barrage of racial insults and name callings, especially from the Philadelphia Phillies, a club notorious for taunting opposing players. Despite his fiery temperament, he could not answer back but went through the season proving himself in fine style. At the end of 1947 season, Robinson won the Rookie of the year award, and assisted the Dodgers to the World Series against New York Yankees and later lose in seven