The Faith of 50 Million: Baseball, Religion, and American Culture

by Christopher Hodge Evans (Editor), William R. Herzog II (Editor), Stanley Hauerwas (Foreword)

"The Faith of 50 Million" features essays by religion scholars who analyze the relationship between baseball and theology in American culture. Topics include the sense of national identity, baseball and civil religion, "saints and sinners," baseball and the American Dream with regard to racial integration, women and baseball, baseball as metaphor, and baseball as spiritual autobiography. Readers will love this fascinating intersection of baseball, race, American civil religion, and contemporary sports culture.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction, Theology

274 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[M Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most books of essays from different writers, this one is a mixed bag. While they all certainly answer the brief of using baseball and its history to illuminate themes of religion and American life, some are more successful and readable than others. The two essays by editor Christopher Evans, for example, are pretty dry, as is the essay on baseball as exemplary of patriarchy. All three raise interesting ideas but certainly none that this reader hasn't already dealt with. Harold Hurley's investigation of "The Old Man and the Sea" also left me cold -- I'm not a Hemingway fan -- but he certainly captures the near-conspiracy theorist mania of the dedicated sabermatrician. The very personal reminiscences of editor William Herzog and Tex Sample, whose work I've enjoyed in other contexts, were sweet but not compelling.

On the other hand, Fred Glennon's exploration of the interaction between Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey and how those very different men served as a moral example for America is very well done. Again, not too much in the way of new information but woven together so skillfully, I found it a joy to read. Likewise, two of the three essays under the heading "Saints and Sinners" really appealed to me. Donald McKim does a wonderful comparison and contrast on the public personas of Christy Matthewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander and how they cemented our idea of sports heroes as saints or sinners. Herzog's essay on Shoeless Joe Jackson is outstanding. Not only does he present a brilliant case for Joe's exoneration, based on recently unsealed evidence, but he shows how Jackson fuliflled the role of scapegoat in saving professional baseball from the Black Sox Scandal in which he was almost certainly entirely innocent. If you, like me, had suspected that Charles Commiskey was the real villain of that episode, here's proof. And Herzog's treatment of the important theological Girardian theory of scapegoats is one of the clearest I've ever read.

All in all, a worthwhile read. As always, your mileage may vary.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Herzog's essays are by far the best, and worth the price of the book!

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavier and more academic than anticipated. Still, baseball.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting but I learned alot about the 1919 World Series. Still not happy that professional athletics doesn't include women.

[marcus miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by baseball fans who happen to be theologians with one English professor thrown in, the collection of essays explore various topics related to baseball and its place in American culture. A couple of essays focus on the idea of baseball as a key part of the idea of civil religion. One attempted to prove that Shoeless Joe Jackson was innocent of fixing the 1919 World Series, one argued that Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" was about baseball (I skipped most of this one) and another suggested that baseball has offered hero's and anti-hero's to American culture.

One essay offered a feminist interpretation of baseball which offered this interesting quote, "Striking similarities can be observed between the experiences of women in baseball and their experiences within the Christian church. Innumerable women follow baseball and are committed to it. ....Yet it is not unfair to say that baseball-like the Christian church-has not been particularly good to or accepting of women."

The essay describing why Branch Rickey was interested in breaking the color barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson was enlightening and highlighted Rickey's devout religious faith, while the essay titled "The Coming of Elijah:Baseball as Metaphor" offered a quirky, yet thought provoking story of the authors life as well as when the Red Sox became the last team to have an African-American player.

I particularly enjoyed the forward by Stanley Hauerwas. "I like to think being a Cubs fan and a pacifist are closely linked-namely, both commitments teach you that life is not about winning."

[Robert Ponce · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays compiled in this book provide a good academic exercise of applying theology and religious thought into baseball. A little far fetched for me, really. But, reading of the innocence of Shoeless Joe Jackson, the bravery of Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson and the lessons learned of their ordeals - from either a secular, purely or partially religious perspective - was worth it for me, and the same applies to a number of the other examples found in the book. It is worth a read.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any collection, some of these articles are better than others, but on the whole, a very nice set of reflections on the role of baseball in American culture and belief. Standouts include Tex Sample's personal essay near the end, and the reexamination of Shoeless Joe Jackson.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baseball is ripe for theological analysis and this volume offers a good selection of essays exploring the intersection of baseball, religion and the American story.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baseball is ripe for theological analysis and this volume offers a good selection of essays exploring the intersection of baseball, religion and the American story.