World War I General (and baseball enthusiast) John J. Pershing seemed to think so. He credited baseball as the reason American soldiers were so proficient in grenade-throwing (among other useful combat skills, such as the capacity for strategic thinking and improved hand-eye coordination). Under Pershing's authority, allied countries were encouraged to establish their own leagues and tournaments to help train their soldiers up. The Pentagon, possibly based on his theory, began experimenting with baseball-shaped explosives that would be more natural for American infantry to handle. The result was the spherical T13 "Beano" Grenade, which was used briefly during World War II. The model didn't last long, but the image of baseball-as-grenade persisted. Recruitment posters featured a soldier emulating a pitching motion, with the slogan That Arm. Your Country Needs It. Pershing was not the first to make the bomb/ball connection. Years earlier, Chinese Revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen is rumored to have set up baseball leagues as a front for teaching his allies how to hurl hand grenades. Sun was exposed to baseball as a young student in Hawaii.
While U.S. soldiers were overseas throwing baseball-esque grenades, the sport was raising money for the war effort back home. According to an article in the February 8, 1945 edition of the Chicago Tribune, Major League Baseball raised $2,630,460 for the war over the course of the 1942 through 1944 seasons (almost $35 million in today's worth). The money came from various sources, including the proceeds from All-Star and World Series' games, war bond drives, and special war relief exhibitions. During WWI, fans throughout the league were instructed to return the foul balls they caught, in order to help Uncle Sam conserve rubber, leather, and yarn (an article published in the Chicago Tribune Daily warns spectators "Anyone who fails to return such a ball will be considered a German sympathizer"). The geo-politics of baseball proved useful again during the Cold War. In the 1970's, the U.S. could monitor Cuba's presence in Angola by tracking the location of baseball fields via aerial photography (Angolans typically don't play baseball... Cubans do). Similarly, a military installation in Cuba that did NOT contain a baseball field was assumed to be designed for Soviet use.
Baseball would be become a focal point of Cold War tension once more in the 1980s. With successful trials in the '84 and '88 Olympics, the Soviet State Sports Committee dedicated themselves to fielding a team that could outplay the United States in time for the 1996 games. Cuba and Nicaragua wasted no time sending over coaches and supplying baseball equipment to replace the hockey gloves and goalie masks that the Soviet players had been using. Russian historian Sergei Scachin turned the rivalry up a notch by claiming that America's favorite pastime was actually derived from a 14th century Russian bat-and-ball sport called Lapta. The United States, perhaps looking for baseball allies in the region, extended four Little League charters to Poland in 1989. President George Bush traveled there personally, bringing with him enough equipment for 18 teams in four cities.
The Soviet Union was dissolved before their baseball team could appear in the Olympics, but the "Big Red Machine" was afforded one opportunity to challenge the United States in international competition; the 1990 Good Will Games. In short, the mercy rule was evoked after 6.5 innings with the U.S. on top 17 to zero. An article in the Los Angeles Times the next day listed among the Soviet team's achievements: "...caught some fly balls, turned one double play, and had no one seriously hurt." Said the USSR team's assistant coach, "Overall, the game went very well."
So what is it about baseball that makes it both a powerful forum for diplomacy and a tempting tool of aggression? For countries like the United States, Cuba, and Japan, baseball represents the search for common ground. It's a way to leave politics in the locker room and engage in a friendlier form of competition. It's a sport in which a player can fail 70% of the time and still be considered great, making it the perfect metaphor for navigating tricky diplomatic relations. Yet, baseball in itself is a game of extreme aggression. In how many sports does the team on DEFENSE hurl a hard leather ball towards the offense at speeds up to 100 miles per hour, while the team on offense swings large wooden clubs with enough force to kill a man? Basketball, football, soccer, etc can be rough sports, but they'd make terrible tools of war... they don't come with deadly weapons as standard-issue equipment. Baseball is one of the few sports that extends itself as a handshake, while simultaneously curling its fingers into a fist.
Baseball would be become a focal point of Cold War tension once more in the 1980s. With successful trials in the '84 and '88 Olympics, the Soviet State Sports Committee dedicated themselves to fielding a team that could outplay the United States in time for the 1996 games. Cuba and Nicaragua wasted no time sending over coaches and supplying baseball equipment to replace the hockey gloves and goalie masks that the Soviet players had been using. Russian historian Sergei Scachin turned the rivalry up a notch by claiming that America's favorite pastime was actually derived from a 14th century Russian bat-and-ball sport called Lapta. The United States, perhaps looking for baseball allies in the region, extended four Little League charters to Poland in 1989. President George Bush traveled there personally, bringing with him enough equipment for 18 teams in four cities.
The Soviet Union was dissolved before their baseball team could appear in the Olympics, but the "Big Red Machine" was afforded one opportunity to challenge the United States in international competition; the 1990 Good Will Games. In short, the mercy rule was evoked after 6.5 innings with the U.S. on top 17 to zero. An article in the Los Angeles Times the next day listed among the Soviet team's achievements: "...caught some fly balls, turned one double play, and had no one seriously hurt." Said the USSR team's assistant coach, "Overall, the game went very well."
So what is it about baseball that makes it both a powerful forum for diplomacy and a tempting tool of aggression? For countries like the United States, Cuba, and Japan, baseball represents the search for common ground. It's a way to leave politics in the locker room and engage in a friendlier form of competition. It's a sport in which a player can fail 70% of the time and still be considered great, making it the perfect metaphor for navigating tricky diplomatic relations. Yet, baseball in itself is a game of extreme aggression. In how many sports does the team on DEFENSE hurl a hard leather ball towards the offense at speeds up to 100 miles per hour, while the team on offense swings large wooden clubs with enough force to kill a man? Basketball, football, soccer, etc can be rough sports, but they'd make terrible tools of war... they don't come with deadly weapons as standard-issue equipment. Baseball is one of the few sports that extends itself as a handshake, while simultaneously curling its fingers into a fist.
Sources:
Taking in a Game: A History of Baseball in Asia, Joseph A. Reaves, Bison Books, 2004
War is Boring (blog), "How Baseball Betrayed Cuba's Covert Ops", Adam Rawnsley
War is Boring (blog), "American Hand Grenades Have Some Odd Connections to Sports", Joseph Trevithick
Misc Baseball (blog), "Baseball in the Last Years of the Soviet Union", Author Unknown
"Baseball as War Training", New York Times, May 20, 1918
"Pershing Says Baseball Makes War Strategists", Chicago Daily Tribune, May 20, 1918
"Help Win War by Conserving Our Baseballs", Chicago Daily Tribune, February 10, 1918
"Baseball Puts $2,360,460 in War Aid Chest" , Chicago Daily Tribune, February 8, 1945
"GOODWILL GAMES: Score: U.S. 17 Soviet Union 0...", Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1990
"GOODWILL GAMES: Score: U.S. 17 Soviet Union 0...", Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1990
