Evans, Christopher H. and Herzog, William R., editors. Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. 274 pp. $18.95 U.S. ISBN: 0664223052.
[1] On September 23, less than two weeks after the September 11 attacks,
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani presided over a multi-faith service for the victims,
most of whom were missing or unidentified. The elaborate ceremonies
included religious hymns, patriotic songs, prayers, oratory, and solemn
processions, and helped to set the tone for similar events that would
be held around the country in the ensuing months. Attendees included
politicians, families of the victims, clergy from a variety of religious
traditions, and thousands of grieving New Yorkers. Significantly, the
venue was a place where New Yorkers were accustomed to more exuberant
forms of collective expression - Yankee Stadium.
[2] That a baseball stadium became a significant venue for national
mourning, ritual catharsis, and expressions of patriotic pride in the
wake of September 11 reinforces much of what is argued in The Faith
of 50 Million: Baseball, Religion, and American Culture, a new collection
of essays edited by Christopher H. Evans and William R. Herzog II. The
text’s organizing themes are that baseball has achieved "enduring stature
as a sacred symbol of American identity" and thus "occupies a unique
crossroads between historical realities and popular myth" (2). Furthermore,
the contributors show that baseball can be analyzed through the lens
of contemporary theology, particularly a theology that is informed by
historical and critical scholarship. The editors note in the introduction
that all the contributors are practicing Protestants and thus the text
will be most helpful to those who study the cultural dimensions of Protestantism.
However, given that many of the essays address broader religious, ethical,
and historical issues, it might also be of interest to other scholars
who focus on American history and culture.
[3] The text is divided into four sections. The first, "Baseball and
American Religion: The Theological Quest for National Identity," contains
two essays by Evans that focus on the relationship between baseball
and American civil religion. The second section, "Saints and Sinners,"
has three essays, two of which examine historically significant players.
The first compares pitchers Christy Matheson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
The second reevaluates Shoeless Joe Jackson’s role in the infamous Black
Sox scandal of 1919. Notably, all three players illustrate the uncertain
boundaries between myth and history that often characterize the public
understanding of baseball. The third essay combines literary analysis,
theology, and baseball history to demonstrate that elements of the novel
The Old Man and the Sea reflect the 1950 American league pennant
race.
[4] The third section, "Baseball and the Search for the ‘American Dream,’"
suggests that the struggles to make American society more egalitarian
and inclusive have been both aided and frustrated by baseball. The first
essay concerns the integration of baseball in 1946, and its author finds
that religion and ethics, particularly as practiced by Jackie Robinson
and Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, contributed significantly to the success
of the "noble experiment." The authors of the second essay assert that,
in spite of historical achievements such as the World War II-era "league
of their own," baseball has largely excluded women from its upper echelons.
They conclude that for baseball, as with most forms of Christianity,
a "radically inclusive" community remains more dream than reality. Finally,
the fourth section, "The Lure of the Elysian Fields" presents two very
personal essays on how baseball can be intertwined with theological
inspiration and spiritual development.
[5] Overall, the creative application of theological insight is impressive
in this collection. The contributors demonstrate that baseball can serve
as a touchstone for Protestant reflection that ranges from the very
personal (introspective spiritual autobiography) to the very public
(broad social reform). Likewise, the essays are rangy and inclusive
in interesting ways. Their authors make use of, in various ways, sociological
theory, literary analysis, civil rights historiography, feminist criticism,
philosophical ethics, personal reminiscences, as well as the work of
numerous baseball historians. Also noteworthy are the sharply critical
tendencies in many of the contributions. Although all the authors are
clearly fans, most do not hesitate to point out the shortcomings of
baseball - particularly insofar as its institutions and leadership have
overtly or tacitly supported abuses of power and privilege.
[6] In places, the collection could use a firmer editorial hand. Some
of the essays drag due to repetition or devotion to minutiae (so like
baseball itself!). Also, the varied interests of the contributors produce
some unevenness in tone and thematic content. Finally, at the theoretical
level, this collection has little to say about some of the most important
previous studies of religion and sports. For example, neither Allen
Guttmann’s influential application of Weber’s secularization theory
to the subject in From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports,
nor Michael Novak’s nimble analysis of sports as "natural religions"
in The Joy of Sports, inform any of the essays. Clifford Putney’s
excellent historical study, Muscular Christianity: Manhood and Sports
in Protestant America, 1880-1920, is mentioned in some of the footnotes,
but his valuable and far reaching insights are otherwise invisible.
These omissions are conspicuous, because all three rigorously cover
materials that have direct relevance to main themes of The Faith
of 50 Million. Thus while this text is a welcome addition to the
study of Protestantism and sports in American culture, it will be most
interesting and useful if read in combination with the best of the older
scholarship.
Lisle Dalton, Hartwick College
DaltonL@hartwick.edu
