Baseball
Although the United States can be credited with developing several popular sports that were adopted internationally, it is baseball that Americans have traditionally recognized as the “national pastime.” Baseball’s early history was interwoven with and reflective of major social and cultural cleavages, but the sport also proved to possess great unifying power, as the experience of playing, watching, and talking about baseball became one of the nation’s great common denominators. Additionally, we have baseball to thank (or point fingers at) for the continued status of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” as one of the best-known songs among Americans.
Baseball Encyclopedia Articles
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Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro Suzuki Japanese baseball player who amassed the most total hits across all professional baseball leagues in the history of the sport. He was notably also the first non-pitcher to shift from Japanese...
Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench is an American professional baseball player who, in 17 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds of the National League, established himself as one of the game’s finest catchers. He won 10 consecutive...
Roger Maris
Roger Maris professional baseball player whose one-season total of 61 home runs (1961) was the highest recorded in the major leagues until 1998. As this feat was accomplished in a 162-game schedule, baseball...
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle professional American League baseball player for the New York Yankees (1951–68), who was a powerful switch-hitter (right- and left-handed) and who hit 536 home runs. He helped the Yankees...
Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig was one of the most durable players in American professional baseball and one of its great hitters. From June 1, 1925, to May 2, 1939, Gehrig, playing first base for the New York Yankees, appeared...
Mike Trout
Mike Trout American baseball centre fielder who was one of the sport’s best all-around players of the early 21st century. Trout was a baseball star at Millville (New Jersey) High School, and his already...
Ernie Banks
Ernie Banks was an American professional baseball player, regarded as one of the finest power hitters in the history of the game. Banks starred for the Chicago Cubs from 1953 to 1971. An 11-time All-Star,...
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson was the first Black baseball player to play in the American major leagues during the 20th century. On April 15, 1947, Robinson broke the decades-old “color line” of Major League Baseball...
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth was chosen as one of the first five members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, a year after he finished his career. He transformed baseball through his home-run hitting, which produced an...