The Opposite of Baseball Diplomacy

A few months ago, I posted two articles about America's baseball diplomacy with Japan and Cuba.  It made me wonder, if baseball could be used to build good will between nations, could it also be used for military gains?  In other words, could baseball literally be a game of war?

Shoeless Joe: The Rest of the Story

Stop me if you've heard this one.  Shoeless Joe Jackson was a naive, uneducated mill worker who was taken advantage of by corrupt gamblers.  Along with seven of his teammates, he was banned from baseball for his alleged involvement in the 1919 World Series scandal - despite his excellent play during the series (.375 batting average with no errors) and favorable verdict from a grand jury.  Afterwards, a heartbroken Jackson quietly disappeared from the limelight.  Unable to walk away from the game he loved, he continued to play under an alias for small-town and semi-pro teams.  According to one well-known source, Jackson appeared post-humously on a magic field in the middle of an Iowa corn farm, where his ghost was at long last able to enjoy the sport free from the harsh accusations of team owners and league commissioners. There is a tragic romanticism induced by these stories, and if that's how you'd like to remember the legendary player then stop reading now.  If you'd like to hear the rest of the story, continue on...