Abby Hildebrand

HONR 175.10
Past Time paper
September 9, 2009

Jules Tygiel sets out to show in his book Past Time: Baseball as History that the history

of baseball in America has experienced dramatic changes and developments from the mid 19th

century to the 21st century, and these have influenced the levels of involvement and differing

reactions of society in different eras. The book, according to Tygiel, is about history, not

baseball, but his idea is to present to us how the two are intertwined (Past Time ix). It is

important to note, Tygeiel tells us, that baseball itself as a game has not changed very much since

its creation but that the context or climate in which it has been played has varied dramatically

from its first years to the modern day (x). Sport is a reflection of the society in which it is

contained; therefore, as American society developed, expanded, changed, got broken down and

built back up, the game of baseball was always there but it served different purposes for the

American people and also reflected the changes of society in the “format in which Americans

absorbed and appreciated [it]” (x).

Tygiel does a good job of showing how the climate of the nation allowed for baseball’s

acceptance as the national pastime. He tells us that, “the spread of the railroad and telegraph

facilitated the spread of ideas and activities” across the nation (11). This new national culture

was the environment in which baseball was adopted and helped to popularize the game.

Additionally, Tygiel dimisses the idea that baseball was suited to the American character at the

time, contending that in actuality the men who influenced the sport “embraced the modern,

rational, scientific worldview that had grown prevalent in mid-nineteenth-century America” (11).

He also talks about the state of the nation pre-Civil War, saying that the union was not complete,

which allowed for baseball’s national identity to be welcomed (7). Tygiel contextualizes baseball
in chapter one well, and shows that technology like the telegraph and railroad helped to create its

national appeal.

Chapter 2 shows the development of statistics in the game brought about by Henry

Chadwick. Since almanacs and statistical manuals were gaining popularity in the antebellum

period as part of the rise in “quantification,” this opened the door for Chadwick to create part of

modern baseball (20). Tygiel shows the environment in which Chadwick’s ideas were presented

and how they progressed and eventually came to forge the structure for statistics in baseball. The

chapter delves into Chadwick’s life all the way until his death, which does necessarily support

his thesis in any way, but rounds out the narrative of the section.

In a time when unionization and workers rights were at the center of the national

conversation, the era that concerns Chapter 3, baseball’s structure and managerial practices

reflected that of the large corporations whose employees wished to unionize against. “Charles

Comiskey, Connie Mack, and Clark Griffith each an owner of an American league franchise, and

John McGraw, who had left the ownership ranks, epitomized the promise of a nation” (35).

These men, as players, were key in the fight against owner exploitation. Yet, once they came to

power as “magnates,” they exploited their own players just as much if not more than they

experienced earlier. Comiskey’s White Sox threw the 1919 World Series mostly out of

resentment for the treatment they had received by the management in the same way workers

strike when the feel underappreciated.

While it is easy to make the comparison of the players to workers and owners to business

barons, Tygiel does not directly draw upon the parallel. He could have easily placed these events

within the broader context of the American labor movement but does not do so successfully. In

this chapter he fails to show that Americans appreciated baseball in a different way.. He could
have pointed to the many strikes of 1919 that dovetail with the Black Sox scandal. He could have

pointed out that baseball was reconfiguring its structure in the early 20th century as it went

though several different leagues until settling on the modern format, just as many American

corporations reorganized as antitrust laws and labor unions forced structural changes; yet, he

does not. It would serve this section better to have played up the similarities between the

everyday American and the ball player to show how the game was reflecting the changes in

society.

In Chapter 4, Tygiel shows us that in post-World War II America new mediums of

communication were among the most important advancements of the day. The radio broadcast of

the 1922 World Series, as well as the later development of the motion picture, shows that the

development of society has influenced how Americans interact with baseball, as they can now

hear the game live or watch clips later as opposed to viewing a visual representation on a lit

scoreboard in a town square. We can clearly see how people have begun to interact with the sport

in different ways and now have the choice of mediums through which to experience a game.

Through the development of radio broadcasting baseball games, we can see the overall

development of the radio as a medium, as well as the shift from the communal act of watching a

scoreboard light up in the town center to listening to an announcer give a dynamic play-by-play

in the comfort of your own home. We also see the development of photographs, tabloid papers,

and newsreels as additional means of seeing baseball. Additionally, Tygiel examines the nation’s

obsession with Babe Ruth, who crossed over to Hollywood and radio on several occasions, and

gives insight into American society at the time. For many, Ruth was “an unequaled exhibition

whose strength and accuracy with baseball were of a pace with the madness for crazy pleasure,

unheard of speed, and aimless bigness convulsing the nation” (75). Tygiel shows how the
different medium that arose during the 1920s influenced the game, and also how the game

influenced them.

The Negro Leagues are examined in Chapter 6, a well thought out and executed section

of the book. He accounts for the successes and hardships that came with the league and its

eventual end. He sets the Leagues well in context of Jim Crow America. Chapter 7 gives us a

look at the Giants Dodgers 1951 World Series and the development and impact of television on

the game. In this chapter, Tygiel shows the impact TV has, which is very unlike the impact of

radio, on ticket sales and how franchises must adapt to continue to be successful. Chapter 8 we

see the expansion of baseball that made it truly America’s game. Developments in transportation

and communication made it feasible for teams to play across the country

In these chapters, however, Tygiel does not mention many key world events or

developments. He does include some aspects of the civil rights movement as they pertain to the

integration of baseball but he does not mention the integration of the US Armed Forces just one

year after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, nor many of the other Civil Rights gains made

in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Tygiel fails to mention events that have dramatically shaped modern

American culture, like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy or the conflicts in

Vietnam. These events, while not always directly pertaining to baseball, affected society in major

and visible ways, and therefore, would affect the sports that reflect that society. He tells us a bit

about the nostalgia for the 1960s that occurs during the 1980s with baseball films but does not

really set the context of the time period.

Overall, Tygiel provides an interesting perspective that chronicles the progress of a

nation and the sport that adapted to and reflected this progress. He looks at the state of the nation

and the changing interactions between society and baseball. However, this book lacks accounts
for many different groups of people that are constitute America. My biggest problem is that he, is

missing some important actors, in addition to major events, within the history of baseball and the

United States. He does not consider, beyond the Negro Leagues, who else was excluded from

Major League baseball—namely women with the large exception of the All-American girls,

which he does not mention. In Chapters 6 and 7, Tygiel has the opportunity to do so but does not

even touch upon them. His history proves to be largely concerning men, even when speaking

about modern baseball. He does not touch upon female fans, nor girls playing Little League or

having a catch with their fathers. There are other groups to be considered as well, what about the

lack of Asian players and the emergence of Hispanic players? While he does not claim to explain

or examine who was playing baseball and why, that is an important part of the game and

America’s history: the social changes that allowed for more diversity in the mainstream,

including baseball, is a reflection of a changing American ideals. Tygiel successfully proves that

baseball will adjust and continue to flourish no matter the developments that occur in the United

States but he failed to show one of the biggest adaptations, the creation of the All-American

Girls League, as well as added diversity of players in the more recent decades.