There’s No Crying (or Talking About the Goddamn Recession) in Baseball

Can baseball save America again?

The economic news of the last few days has been sobering.  For decades, baseball has played in interesting role in America in times of economic woe. We found a great article by Eric Spitznagel that captures the roles of baseball, fans and the economy.

Read on.....

Baseball, like McDonald’s and chocolate, seems to be recession-proof; comfort food for the brain.

Our country, as you may’ve heard, is in a pretty frightening recession. It’s so bad that some have made whispered comparisons with the Big D – you know, the Great Depression. Our current President, god bless ‘em, has already demonstrated shades of FDR, promising to lead us through dark times with nothing more than an unwavering confidence and belief in our potential. But who’s going to buoy our national spirit when we get down in the recession dumps? Well, if the Great Depression is our best barometer, it’s probably going to be baseball.

Back in the 1930s, when the U.S. economy was fodder for John Steinbeck novels, baseball was experiencing a golden age. Players like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio became icons, even among people who wouldn’t go to a ballgame on a dare. The sport essentially became our national panacea. The world may’ve seemed hopeless and scary, but baseball offered the huddled masses a chance to escape and lose themselves in the exploits of larger-than-life sports heroes. So I have to wonder, will our national pastime once again become the diversion a rattled and recession-weary country needs? Will modern baseball shed its controversial reputation, ruined by years of steroids and bloated salaries, and resume its rightful place as a proud American tradition, right up there with mom and apple pie?

Read the full article here. http://ericspitznagel.com/content/published-stories/theres-no-crying-or-...