Patriotism runs deeply in America’s pastime

Since its inception, patriotism has run deeply in baseball.

Even before its inception patriotism and baseball went hand in hand. The game first became popular as a means for Union soldiers to pass the time when not fighting during the American Civil War. Already rapidly growing in popularity at the time, soldiers would once again take up playing the game for recreation during the Spanish-American War at the turn of the century.

Two decades later, baseball had taken on a new aspect. It was no longer soldiers seeking to preserve their sense of normality in the calm and relaxation baseball can bring. Instead, it was players heading off to preserve their ability to play baseball by heading off to Europe for World War I. For many players, the bowl helmet of a doughboy would be the first they wore in their lives.

Two decades later, a new generation of players found themselves enlisting and being drafted to fight a war half a world away. Some of baseball’s greatest traded awards for medals, bats for rifles, and box scores for tour ribbons. Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Yogi Berra, Stan Musial, and Warren Spahn all served during World War II. They were just a handful of the more than 500 players under contract with MLB organizations to enlist or be drafted into service. Two players died serving their country during the war, Elmer Gedeon and Harry O’Neill. Broadcast Hall of Famer Jerry Coleman was the only major league player to see combat in two wars.

Roberto Clemente, Nolan Ryan, Willie Mays, Whitey Ford and many, many others have served honorably in the armed forces from the Spanish-American War to the ongoing war on terrorism, but patriotism in baseball goes far beyond the military.

While players were off fighting to keep the spark of liberty alive, more than 600 women laced up their cleats to play at a level which had not been seen before, or since. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was the brainchild of Philip K. Wrigley, and from 1943 to 1954, it was women who kept the spark of interest in America’s pastime alive and served as role models for young girls.

No other sport in the history of this great nation has served with such dedication as a point of consistency in some of the nation’s most troubled times. When America needed courage, it was David Ortiz’s speech of defiance following the Boston marathon bombings three years ago. When America needed equality, it was Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers refusing to quit on a melting pot about to boil over. When America needed strength, it was former President George W. Bush’s first pitch and Mike Piazza’s big home run not to help the country forget September 11, 2001, but rather to allow it to take a break from grieving for a few hours.

As red, white, and blue fly over fields of green, take a moment to celebrate the country that gave us the freedom to cheer our favorite team, the freedom to post on social media how much our favorite players frustrate us at times, the freedom to stand and sing the words of defiance penned by Francis Scott Key as he awaited the fate of the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, the freedom to smile and know we’re watching the greatest game in the greatest land on earth.

Happy Fourth of July!