Baseball's Golden Age

In the first half of the twentieth century, baseball became the undisputed leader among American sports, solidifying its claims to be the national pastime. As baseball came of age, promoters perpetuated the Doubleday myth of its origins; professional teams built magnificent stadiums of steel and concrete; and owners created the modern structure of the major leagues, including the annual World Series. Shrewd economic decisions on the part of major team owners created a monopoly cartel that gave owners full control over players’ careers, through use of a “reserve clause” that required players to obtain owners’ permission to move to other teams, even when their contracts were up. This cartel was bolstered when the Supreme Court exempted baseball from the federal trust legislation designed to prevent the development of economic monopolies. It put the sport on a firm financial footing and helped it weather trials that included war, depression, scandal, and periodic disunity. Dramatic stars – most notably the inimitable Babe Ruth – kept fans involved. Barred from the major leagues, African American players, coaches, and promoters created the alternative Negro Leagues, which showcased some of the nation’s finest players and whose all-star games could fill major league parks. Baseball did accept Latino and Native American players, and it extended its reach further into Latin America and the Caribbean, building new fan bases and tapping new pools of talent.