ABSTRACT
Baseball has linked itself with American patriotism and US military endeavors, in particular. Thus, the military metaphor often appears, to characterize the game itself or its own internal wars, but especially to demonstrate the sport's allegiance to the nation's broader wars and interventions. In the Civil War, baseball was played widely by Union soldiers and in Confederate prisoner-of-war camps, and eventually by Southern troops. As with baseball czars before him, Ban Johnson steadfastly supported US wars and interventions, including the Philippine War, Mexican invasion, and World War I. Cultivating both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Kenesaw Mountain Landis's steadfast militarism continued through World War II. Not surprisingly, Commissioner Fay Vincent supported Bush's Gulf War, offering whatever assistance baseball might provide. At Major League Baseball (MLB) ballparks, military tributes were routine, from Blue Angels flyovers to ceremonial first pitches by Iraq war veterans.
