Existing comment:
The United States and baseball, having grown up together, share a fundamental belief: anyone who works hard enough can achieve the American dream and play shortstop. And, for a nation of immigrants, learning to play or becoming a fan created a sense of belonging in the new land. As an industrial powerhouse, the United States mass-produced baseballs, invented mass sports media, and amassed a collection of grandstands. Organized baseball offered players more than healthful recreation: it could also be a path to a better life. "A ballplayer's got to be kept hungry to become a big-leaguer. That's why no boy from a rich family ever made the big leagues," said the son of a Sicilian fisherman, Joe DiMaggio. With the advent of free agency in the 1970s, successful players could start their own rich families. Not only did baseball generate healthy incomes, and eventually fortunes, but it has been used to forge profitable foreign relations and promote cultural diplomacy around the globe. |