ABSTRACT
In the late nineteenth century, participation in sports by boys and men was considered to be an excellent way to build character. In addition to fostering good health, sports also inspired moral development. Most important, sports encouraged manliness and discouraged effeminate behavior. The values of manhood became central in the popularization of baseball as the national pastime. Workplace autonomy was declining under the burgeoning capitalist system. Many white, middle-class men recognized that their power within the social structure was eroding. According to Michael Kimmel, these powerful social structural shifts resulted in a crisis of gender identity. As a result, organized sport helped to sustain the dwindling ideology of white, middle-class male superiority and helped to reconfigure masculine hegemony. If baseball is to truly become a mirror of the American dream, and not a reflection of an American nightmare, then players, coaches, managers, and fans must commit themselves to treating women as equals and not merely as sexual conquests.
