This article explores the role of baseball as it relates to national healing following the attacks of 9/11. This article examines how baseball became an outlet for social mourning and specifically looks at how the sport fostered American patriotism post 9/11. Lastly, this article explores the overall role of baseball and sports journalism as an influencer of American thought in times of national crisis.
The notion that baseball can act as a morale booster in times of national crisis dates back to the start of the Second World War. Embroiled in global conflict with more than 500 major league players enlisting in the armed forces, commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis questioned the importance of the sport and sought the advice of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in moving forward with the 1942 season.
“I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going,” wrote Roosevelt. “There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. That means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before.”
Roosevelt’s complete response to Landis, known as the 'green-light letter,' is arguably the most pivotal presidential declaration in sports history.
“Baseball provides a recreation which does not last over two hours or two hours and a half, and which can be got for very little cost,” wrote Roosevelt.
Following Roosevelt’s response, the The Sporting News conducted dozens of interviews with service members to gauge their opinions on the purpose of baseball during World War II. The majority sided with Roosevelt’s suggestion that the 1942 season move forward as scheduled.
"Baseball is part of the American way of life,” wrote Private John E. Stevenson of Fort Dix, New Jersey. "Remove it, and you remove something from the lives of American citizens, soldiers, and sailors."
“For the morale of the solider and the morale of America itself, ‘keep ‘em playing’," said Private Clifford P. Mansfield of Fort Knox, Kentucky.
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For many Americans, life screeched to a standstill immediately following the 9/11 attacks. Shock and sadness settled in, followed by anger and resentment. News coverage of the attacks and the aftermath saturated the media landscape.
Commissioner Bud Selig suspended the Major League Baseball schedule immediately following the attacks while contemplating baseball's appropriate next steps. He consulted with political officials, including President George W. Bush, wondering how baseball, a simplistic sport meant primarily for leisure and entertainment, could counteract the sadness and fear of millions of Americans.
The Major League Baseball schedule resumed on Sept. 17. The game itself was secondary, rightfully trumped by acts of remembrance and patriotism. The six ballparks that hosted contests across the country that night provided a needed place for people to assemble and mourn.
According to the social and organic solidarity theories of renowned sociologist Emile Durkheim, the assemblies played a cathartic role in healing because oneness (unity) trumped individuality. Patriotism was at a generational high immediately following the attacks. People put political affiliations aside and instead felt an urgency to rally together to demonstrate nationalism and support. This sense of commonality and oneness provided an outlet for healing.
Randall Collins, another well-recognized sociology scholar, expanded on Durkheim’s theory, claiming when outsiders come together sharing a mood or emotional experience, they can inherit a positive emotional energy.
According to Collins, episodes such as 9/11 produce group solidarity in four phases: (1) an initial few days of shock; (2) one to two weeks of establishing displays of solidarity; (3) two to three months of high solidarity plateau; and (4) gradual decline toward normalcy in six to nine months.
For this article, here's a look at Collins’ first three points and their relation to baseball post 9/11.
Point 1 (Shock): Baseball games were cancelled for six days from Sept. 11 until Sept. 16. Players openly debated the triviality of the sport in light of the attacks.
Point 2 (Displays of Solidarity): Baseball’s return by itself can be categorized as a display of solidarity – demonstrating America’s resolve and a willingness to return to normalcy. Other displays of solidarity included overt acts of patriotism (i.e., face painted flags, ‘USA’ chants, moments of silence).
Point 3 (Solidarity Plateau): Baseball’s postseason captivated the nation in 2001, partly because the New York Yankees reached the World Series, but also because nearly every contest had some commemorative aspect related to 9/11 (i.e., first pitch thrown by someone directly impacted by the attacks, storylines about how the Yankees were a team of 'destiny’ playing for New York, the tattered American flag from the WTC waving at Yankee Stadium).
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Every sports writer has heard it before – the sports department is the ‘toy department’ of the newspaper. True, stories pertaining to murder, fire, and war rarely run in the sports section of a newspaper, but that does not discount the societal impact a solid sports story can have on a community and nation.
“Through the myth-making indulged around box scores, the narratives of sports journalism restore routines and project normalcy,” writes Michael Serazio, an assistant professor of Communications at Fairfield University. “Sports coverage, perhaps more so than any other section of the newspaper or facet of journalism, lends itself especially effectively to negotiating traumatic cultural memory.”
Sports journalists have slightly more wiggle room compared to other reporters because sports are a form of entertainment. “In the aftermath of trauma, the familiarity of sports reporting helps index that which has not changed,” contends Serazio.
The sports pages following 9/11 were full of stories dealing with baseball’s return, but the coverage was deeper, exploring what the return of the sport meant to the psyche of America. Baseball was the decoy as journalists provided patriotic and strength inspiring stories with the sport as the backdrop.
Baseball gave the nation comfort in a time of despair and provided an emotional outlet where people could mourn and turn their thoughts away from the grim happenings of reality. The sport represented American normalcy and demonstrated our willingness to move forward while still remembering.
The comments from Landis, Roosevelt and the service men about the role of baseball during World War II held true through 9/11. The sport is a way of American life and is much more than a simple game played on a diamond.
Let us never forget.
"When I look back on those days once play had resumed, it gives me pride that the national pastime provided fans with some moments of normalcy and joy,” Selig said. "In baseball's function as a social institution, we wanted to be not only sensitive, but we wanted to play our little part in the recovery process. It was a painful time, an emotional time, but we did fulfill that role."
