The decline of baseball — and American character

We have become an impatient and morally inconsistent people

Babe Ruth
(Image credit: Bettmann/CORBIS)

"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball."

The words of the late historian Jacques Barzun can be found in almost any serious book on the sport that was long ago deemed "America's pastime." And it's true: Throughout modern history, baseball has come to exemplify the American spirit. Mark Twain said that baseball symbolized "the drive and push and rush and struggle of the raging, tearing, booming 19th century [America]!" And indeed, the game has long reflected the heart and character of a country increasingly urbanized yet still influenced by simple, small-town roots.

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