The national pastime trade-off: how baseball sells US foreign policy and the American way

Abstract

From Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War to George W. Bush and the Iraq War, we can observe baseball's role in developing the American empire, first at home and then beyond US shores. From Albert Spalding and baseball's first world tour to Bud Selig and the World Baseball Classic, we can see the globalisation of America's national pastime, and baseball's missionary role in spreading the American dream. To maintain itself as the American national game, however, baseball has pursued a ‘national pastime trade-off,’ which has brought benefits but has come with a high price for the game. Is it still worth pursuing? This essay will address that question while chronicling baseball's own foreign policy and the sport's involvement in US diplomatic and military history.