During the Civil War, Americans from homefront to battlefront played
baseball as never before. While soldiers slaughtered each other over the
country's fate, players and fans struggled over the form of the national
pastime. George Kirsch gives us a color commentary of the growth and
transformation of baseball during the Civil War. He shows that the game
was a vital part of the lives of many a soldier and civilian--and that
baseball's popularity had everything to do with surging American
nationalism.
By 1860, baseball was poised to emerge as the American sport. Clubs in
northeastern and a few southern cities played various forms of the game.
Newspapers published statistics, and governing bodies set rules. But the
Civil War years proved crucial in securing the game's place in the
American heart. Soldiers with bats in their rucksacks spread baseball to
training camps, war prisons, and even front lines. As nationalist fervor
heightened, baseball became patriotic. Fans honored it with the title of
national pastime. War metaphors were commonplace in sports reporting,
and charity games were scheduled. Decades later, Union general Abner
Doubleday would be credited (wrongly) with baseball's invention. The
Civil War period also saw key developments in the sport itself,
including the spread of the New York-style of play, the advent of
revised pitching rules, and the growth of commercialism.
Kirsch recounts vivid stories of great players and describes soldiers
playing ball to relieve boredom. He introduces entrepreneurs who
preached the gospel of baseball, boosted female attendance, and found
new ways to make money. We witness bitterly contested championships that
enthralled whole cities. We watch African Americans embracing baseball
despite official exclusion. And we see legends spring from the pens of
early sportswriters.
Rich with anecdotes and surprising facts, this narrative of baseball's
coming-of-age reveals the remarkable extent to which America's national
pastime is bound up with the country's defining event.
