Baseball and American History: One in the Same

Learn about how baseball and America rose from the ashes after one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in history. Image: Leeds, David. New York’s Real Heros. 2001. https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/gallery/september-11-10-year-anniversary-look-back-at-baseball-mlb-comeback-082711. Accessed 2 May 2020. Sources: Emerson, Anthony. “After 9/11, Baseball Brought Hope Back to America.” Bleacher Report. 11 Sep. 2009, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/252671-after-911-baseball-brought-hope-back-to-america. Accessed 22 Apr. 2020. and Giorgi, Hillary. “The Ultimate Comeback.” Yankees Magazine, 11 Sep. 2018, https://www.mlb.com/news/baseball-helped-heal-the-nation-after-9-11-c294183722. Accessed 22 Apr. 2020.

Listen to how Jackie Robinson changed the game of baseball for African-Americans everywhere and led the way for desegregation. Image: Salas, Osvaldo. Jackie Robinson and Sandy Amoros Negative. 1952. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/jackie-robinson-and-sandy-amoros-negative-1952-0. Accessed 2 May 2020. Source: Rubinstein, William D.. “Jackie Robinson and The Integration of Major League Baseball.” History Today, Sep. 2003, pp. 20.

We take a look at how Baseball and America shared a similar changes throughout World War 2. Image:Rockford Peaches at Pre-Season Training. 1944. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/rockford-peaches-pre-season-training-photograph-1944-0. Accessed 2 May 2020. Sources: Tope, Jennifer Day. “Fighting the Second World War in Paradise with a Bat and Glove: Major League Baseball Comes to Hawai’i.” Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 42, Nov. 2008, pp. 265. and Jenkins, Sally. “League of Her Own: An Indiana Slugger was one of the Ballplayers who “Hit the Dirt in a Skirt” and Changed Americans’ View of Women.” Smithsonian, vol. 49, no. 3, Jun. 2018, pp. 20-22.