Baseball is more than just a sport to some who watch and/or play it.
To the late pitcher, manager, and baseball executive Albert G. Spalding, it is a point of national pride and maybe, even one of the greatest things to ever happen to mankind. In his 1911 piece America's National Game, Spalding discusses how baseball is one of the things that sets America apart from the rest of the world, especially the United Kingdom. He accomplishes this by drawing contrast between the British sport of cricket and the American baseball. He certainly does not think lesser of cricket, for he says, "Cricket is a splendid game, for Britons," but as one can see, he knows it is not meant for Americans. Meanwhile, "Base Ball is the American Game par excellence, because its playing demands Brain and Brawn, and American manhood supplies these ingredients in quantity sufficient to spread over the entire continent... Base Ball is an Athletic Turmoil, played and applauded in an unconventional, enthusiastic and American manner." From reading the article, one can see that Spalding thinks highly of America's (military) might, and considering that the dawn of the twentieth century featured a spike in nationalist ideas and feelings, it would add up that Spalding would make an effort to touch on the greatness America possessed at the time.
To researcher and writer Abe Stein, baseball is a point of reflection, specifically in regards to home and how it is represented int the game. In his 2014 article "How Home Plate Lives Up to Its Name," Stein touches on how we often focus on the "ball" aspect of baseball but never much of the "base." For most of the piece, Stein adopts a highly introspective tone yet adopts a structure similar to that of George Carlin's "Football and Baseball" - It is as though Stein is examining himself and his feelings on the world in front of the reader while he continuously moves back and forth between the differences that one can find between the average bases and home plate. In Stein's words, "Bases offer a refuge from the dangers of the game: to be on base is to be safe, to leave is to risk being tagged out... Home is the point of departure and return for players... The metaphorical significance of 'coming home' should not be downplayed..." It is through this gentle and straightforward writing, though, that Stein is able to make this writing more accessible; the writing does not come off hard-hitting the way Spalding's does, but with its calm approach, it makes one find themself to be relating more to Stein's points than they would otherwise. Thus, one walks away thinking, "Yes, home plate is, truly, like my own home."
To the late pitcher, manager, and baseball executive Albert G. Spalding, it is a point of national pride and maybe, even one of the greatest things to ever happen to mankind. In his 1911 piece America's National Game, Spalding discusses how baseball is one of the things that sets America apart from the rest of the world, especially the United Kingdom. He accomplishes this by drawing contrast between the British sport of cricket and the American baseball. He certainly does not think lesser of cricket, for he says, "Cricket is a splendid game, for Britons," but as one can see, he knows it is not meant for Americans. Meanwhile, "Base Ball is the American Game par excellence, because its playing demands Brain and Brawn, and American manhood supplies these ingredients in quantity sufficient to spread over the entire continent... Base Ball is an Athletic Turmoil, played and applauded in an unconventional, enthusiastic and American manner." From reading the article, one can see that Spalding thinks highly of America's (military) might, and considering that the dawn of the twentieth century featured a spike in nationalist ideas and feelings, it would add up that Spalding would make an effort to touch on the greatness America possessed at the time.
To researcher and writer Abe Stein, baseball is a point of reflection, specifically in regards to home and how it is represented int the game. In his 2014 article "How Home Plate Lives Up to Its Name," Stein touches on how we often focus on the "ball" aspect of baseball but never much of the "base." For most of the piece, Stein adopts a highly introspective tone yet adopts a structure similar to that of George Carlin's "Football and Baseball" - It is as though Stein is examining himself and his feelings on the world in front of the reader while he continuously moves back and forth between the differences that one can find between the average bases and home plate. In Stein's words, "Bases offer a refuge from the dangers of the game: to be on base is to be safe, to leave is to risk being tagged out... Home is the point of departure and return for players... The metaphorical significance of 'coming home' should not be downplayed..." It is through this gentle and straightforward writing, though, that Stein is able to make this writing more accessible; the writing does not come off hard-hitting the way Spalding's does, but with its calm approach, it makes one find themself to be relating more to Stein's points than they would otherwise. Thus, one walks away thinking, "Yes, home plate is, truly, like my own home."
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