Infinite Inning #023: Oh Say Can't You See?

Steven is joined by historian Mary Craig (Baseball Prospectus, Beyond the Box Score) to discuss the intersection of sports and politics as we see it and/or refuse to see it today. Along the way, Herbert Hoover doesn’t meet Babe Ruth and Tom Seaver crosses into John Lennon territory.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
War is over if Tom Seaver wants it*Herbert Hoover goes to a ballgame*Mary Craig: John Locke was such a racist (and Martin Heidegger was a Nazi)*Days of Taking a Knee and the Myth of Baseball’s Depoliticization*Baseball’s color line in context*Stick to sports?*Baseball and the National Anthem*Retroactive homogenization*Mr. Maddon goes to Washington*The difference between a team and a political figure*What does a Red Sox cap stand for?*Where do you draw the line  on accountability?*The younger generation*The intent of the Framers*How can you stick to sports when you’ve never stuck to sports?*The Joe Maddon mystique*Hannah Arendt and Thucydides show up; can Herodotus be far behind?*Goodbyes.

The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?