Bonding Over Baseball
by Dr. Paul Kengor
Baseball still brings friends and families together.
In an opening scene of Brian Helgeland’s moving film, 42, Branch Rickey, the famous president of the Brooklyn Dodgers and played by Harrison Ford, is reviewing files of potential black baseball players whom he might bring into major league baseball in the face of inevitable hate, vitriol, and racism. He picks up Jackie Robinson’s file. “He’s […]
Sports are often said to be a microcosm of life. But for kids playing on their first team, sports can provide valuable life lessons and opportunities for developing virtues. Coaches, then, can be influential mentors who start youngsters on the right road. Yet it’s not as simple as it looks. I had been thinking about […]
“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.” —Terence Mann (played by James Earl Jones), Field of Dreams For over 100 years, baseball has been a cultural reference point for millions of Americans. Just as certain songs are associated with special times in our lives, so many of us remember our past […]
As a long, hard winter comes to a close, four words can always elevate my spirits: ‘Pitchers and Catchers Report!’ This simple phrase indicates the boys of summer are heading to the sunny paradise of either Florida or Arizona to work out the kinks that settled in during the long winter months. Pitchers are stretching […]