Touching Home
Baseball and the Liberal-Republican Tradition in America
Will be published approx. on 5. November 2025
Book
Hardback
202 pages
978-0-8262-2340-1 (ISBN)
Description
2026 Society for American Baseball Research Seymour Medal finalist
Baseball's relationship to American ideals has long been an object of study across disciplines. In Touching Home, Mary Craig contributes to this ongoing study by relating issues of class, race, and gender to America's theoretical tradition of liberalism and republicanism established during the nation's founding era. Specifically, Touching Home traces theories of individualism and civic virtue from the founding era through baseball's place in American society at the end of the twentieth century.
The work also examines the mythologizing of baseball's pastoralism, racial equality, and inculcation of manliness as a civic virtue. These myths became ingrained in baseball in significant ways, including, for example, the Supreme Court's granting of an antitrust exemption to Major League Baseball; MLB's promotion of Jackie Robinson's career as proof of its leadership in and commitment to desegregation; and the short-lived All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954) and subsequent relegation of women to softball.
Through the exploration of these and other societal issues, Craig's work highlights baseball's development from accessible hobby to multi-billion-dollar corporation, exploring the ways in which the sport has helped shape how individual Americans engage with politics. Indeed, in the pages of Touching Home readers will find a demythologizing of baseball that helps them better understand the results of their efforts to form community through engaging with teams at both the local and national levels. Scholars of American politics, particularly American political thought, will be intrigued to find baseball used as a case study of the effectiveness of the founders' project of crafting a jointly liberal-republican framework capable of directing Americans toward responsible citizenship.
In all of these ways, Touching Home upholds the value of studying popular culture, presenting baseball as a unique and highly interesting lens through which to help us appreciate how individual Americans relate to politics and parties in their respective communities and nationally.
Baseball's relationship to American ideals has long been an object of study across disciplines. In Touching Home, Mary Craig contributes to this ongoing study by relating issues of class, race, and gender to America's theoretical tradition of liberalism and republicanism established during the nation's founding era. Specifically, Touching Home traces theories of individualism and civic virtue from the founding era through baseball's place in American society at the end of the twentieth century.
The work also examines the mythologizing of baseball's pastoralism, racial equality, and inculcation of manliness as a civic virtue. These myths became ingrained in baseball in significant ways, including, for example, the Supreme Court's granting of an antitrust exemption to Major League Baseball; MLB's promotion of Jackie Robinson's career as proof of its leadership in and commitment to desegregation; and the short-lived All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954) and subsequent relegation of women to softball.
Through the exploration of these and other societal issues, Craig's work highlights baseball's development from accessible hobby to multi-billion-dollar corporation, exploring the ways in which the sport has helped shape how individual Americans engage with politics. Indeed, in the pages of Touching Home readers will find a demythologizing of baseball that helps them better understand the results of their efforts to form community through engaging with teams at both the local and national levels. Scholars of American politics, particularly American political thought, will be intrigued to find baseball used as a case study of the effectiveness of the founders' project of crafting a jointly liberal-republican framework capable of directing Americans toward responsible citizenship.
In all of these ways, Touching Home upholds the value of studying popular culture, presenting baseball as a unique and highly interesting lens through which to help us appreciate how individual Americans relate to politics and parties in their respective communities and nationally.
Reviews / Votes
"In Touching Home, Mary Craig presents a thought-provoking look at the relationship between baseball and American politics. Focusing on the myths we tell ourselves about both, she asks us to consider the costs of blindly embracing these foundational stories. In the process, Craig imagines a different future for baseball and politics beyond consumerism and more in line with true civic virtue."-Thomas Bunting, Shawnee State University, author of Democracy at the Ballpark: Sport, Spectatorship, and Politics"When it comes to baseball, finding something new to write about is not an easy task, but Craig has found a new way to connect baseball with the foundations of the United States, with all of its contradictions and triumphs. Touching Home is a quality project and well worth the read; baseball fans won't be disappointed." -Lisa Doris Alexander, Wayne State University, author of When Baseball Isn't White, Straight, and Male: The Media and Difference in the National Pastime
"Touching Home examines the National Pastime through the twinned lenses of Lockean liberalism and republicanism, political philosophies that play a large part in creating and perpetuating the American mythos. In this beautifully written book, Mary Craig offers a cogent argument about the ways in which baseball, from its origins as an amateur sport to its corporatization, both exemplifies and disseminates the founding ideas of individualism and contributing to the civic good that shape American identity, at the same time demythologizing the public narratives we tell ourselves about the sport and the nation. Simultaneously scholarly and accessible, Touching Home is an important addition not just to the cultural history of baseball, but to the cultural history of the United States." -Roberta Newman, New York University, author of Here's the Pitch: The Amazing, True, New, and Improved Story of Baseball and Advertising "Craig takes a deep dive into sports philosophy with her elegant exploration of baseball's relationship to American ideals. By providing fascinating new perspectives on four well-studied topics, Craig illuminates baseball-history readers with revelatory insights about how the sport of baseball has been impacted by the 18th century political principles underlying the founding of America."-Bevis Baseball Research
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Missouri
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
399 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8262-2340-1 (9780826223401)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Mary Craig is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Furman University, where she teaches courses in American politics and political theory. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Baylor University. A lifelong baseball fan, Craig has written for both Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus-websites carrying statistical reports and articles on current players, events, and issues as well as baseball history.
Content
Preface/ xi
Acknowledgements/ xiii
Introduction/ 3
Chapter One- Myth and Money:A. G. Spalding Makes a National Pastime / 9
Chapter Two- Courts and Communities:The Development of MLB's Antitrust Exemption / 29
Chapter Three- Equality and Economics:The Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, and Desegregation / 65
Chapter Four- Bloomers and Beanball:Women's Involvement in America's National Pastime / 97
Conclusion/ 127
Notes/ 137
Bibliography/ 167
Index/ 183
Acknowledgements/ xiii
Introduction/ 3
Chapter One- Myth and Money:A. G. Spalding Makes a National Pastime / 9
Chapter Two- Courts and Communities:The Development of MLB's Antitrust Exemption / 29
Chapter Three- Equality and Economics:The Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, and Desegregation / 65
Chapter Four- Bloomers and Beanball:Women's Involvement in America's National Pastime / 97
Conclusion/ 127
Notes/ 137
Bibliography/ 167
Index/ 183