baseball

[pynchonoid]

Malign:
Baseball was invented so that, every spring [... ] 

A different take:

[...] Professional baseball in the United States arose
in the
late nineteenth century largely through the
intertwined
processes of urbanism and industrialism. Evolving from
other bat-and-ball games such as rounders and cricket,
baseball became professionalized by 1870, as factories
increasingly began to dot the urban landscape of the
north
and midwest, and thousands of workers streamed into
the
cities to man the new machines. Enduring long hours of
tedious and often monotonous labor, urban industrial
laborers eagerly sought cheap amusements during their
limited leisure time, and professional baseball
emerged to
help fill the void. By 1900, professional franchises
represented nearly every major city in the United
States.
Continued economic and industrial growth coupled with
a
rising standard of living and shorter working hours
enabled
white professional baseball, along with other
commercialized amusements, to enjoy unparalleled
growth
dining the first quarter of the twentieth century.
[...] 

... read it all (the first chapter of the book, at
least):

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/16/books/chapters/0516-1st-lactot.html

_Negro League Baseball_
by NEIL LANCTOT


P.S. Since this thread began, I've heard that Delillo
takes Pynchon to Mets games now and again. 





        


	
		
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