More handpicked essays just for you.
Relationship between sports and culture
Relationship between sports and culture
Relationship between sports and culture
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Baseball Magic, by George Gmelch, revised pages 25-46 of "Superstition and ritual in American Baseball" is a great example of traditions that players repetitively do, believing that it will give them luck or help them perform better. Anthropologist
Bronislaw Malinowski compared Trobrianders open sea fishing, and their traditions to help ensure a safe journey and increase their catch, to America's national pastime, Baseball, in which professional athletes battle day in and day out to be crowned at the end of the year the World Champions. After retiring from baseball and taking an anthropology course called “Magic, Religion, and Witchcraft.” Gmelch realized that his old traditions and his teammate's traditions for luck weren't so different from
…show more content…
Humans naturally try to control everything around them, and when something is so uncontrollable such as baseball where there are only three primary activities- pitching, hitting, and fielding, and each of these have many uncontrollable aspects, in which almost every player on the field has a ritual or tradition they will follow before the game or during the game. I especially like this because I played baseball and was a pitcher and has many rituals when I was doing well, and even had more when I was doing worse because the pitcher has the least control on the field because after they throw the ball they have usually no impact on the rest of the play, and their best pitch can be hit for a home run or get a called third strike on the outside corner. The worst part is that the pitcher can be having an amazing game, but your team has no run support and you still lose. For example in 1990 when Sir Fernandez lost twice as many games as Dwight Gooden his teammate who allowed more runs per game then Fernandez. Unfortunately, the pitcher can't rely on himself, he relies on his entire team, his coaches, and even the other
Through the use of various factual evidence from several longitudinal studies, Gmelch brings forth the presence of superstition in the long history of America’s favorite baseball players. In addition to factual evidence about quirky habits that sufficed into rituals for professional players, Gmelch incorporates a psychological point of view. Supporting his claims through psychology’s explanations for the supernatural magic believed to bring luck to players, Gmelch ties Skinner’s classical conditioning approach to the concept. It becomes clear to the audience that through an evolutionary approach, as humans we tend to repeat actions that bring us success, allowing for a fair interpretation of the ties to science. Evidently, this can be observed in not only the habits that are believed to bring baseball players luck, but also the success that they bring to Trobriand Islanders when fishing in the open
Baseball has been of the longest living sports in our world today. The game started with the idea of a stick and ball and now has become one of the most complex sports known in our society. Several rules and regulations have been added to help enhance the game for everyone. Although baseball has endured several issues during its history and development of the game the game has still been a success throughout the world.
Baseball statistics are meant to be a representation of a player’s talent. Since baseball’s inception around the mid-19th century, statistics have been used to interpret the talent level of any given player, however, the statistics that have been traditionally used to define talent are often times misleading. At a fundamental level, baseball, like any game, is about winning. To win games, teams have to score runs; to score runs, players have to get on base any way they can. All the while, the pitcher and the defense are supposed to prevent runs from scoring. As simplistic as this view sounds, the statistics being used to evaluate individual players were extremely flawed. In an attempt to develop more specific, objective forms of statistical analysis, the idea of Sabermetrics was born. Bill James, a man who never played or coached professional baseball, is often credited as a pioneer in the field and for coining the name as homage to the Society of American Baseball Research, or SABR. Eventually, the use of Sabermetrics became widespread in the Major Leagues, the first team being the Oakland Athletics, as depicted in Moneyball. Bill James and other baseball statisticians have developed various methods of evaluating a player performance that allow for a more objective view of the game, broadly defined as Sabermetrics.
Many cultures ascribe to some kind of superstition, magic, or faith. Merriam-Webster defines superstition as “a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation” ("Superstition”). This definition makes superstition sound like it belongs in a lower developed country that lacks the ability to have scientific knowledge. However, magic and superstition are alive and well in developed countries, such as the United States. Sports are rife with superstitions. Many players use “ritual, taboos, and fetishes to manage the anxiety generated by unpredictable events that challenge human control” (Gmelch 266). Superstitions are entirely psychological; a way to create a reason for an event that has occurred. In his article “Baseball Magic,” George Gmelch examines the rituals, taboos, and fetishes of American baseball and how they compare to the magic of the Trobriand Islanders.
In various risky or uncertain situations many people find comfort in creating a routine providing them with a sense of security and control. This type of routine has the possibility to progress into a ritualistic practice that changes depending on the results. In George Gmelch “Baseball Magic,” he looks at the variations of superstition in America's national pastime of baseball. Gmelch compares the superstitious fishing practices of Trobriand Islanders to the superstitious practices of baseball. He argues that both are professions which use “a great deal of magical ritual to ensure safety” (pg.267). The game of baseball has various superstitious origins linked to it. Gmelch primarily focuses on hitting and pitching in his article. Daily rituals and fetishes are adopted to attract luck and keep it for as long as possible (pg.267).
With about 83 players currently to in the MLB, 682 players since 1950, and so far 2 players in the Hall of Fame with much more to get inducted, it’s clear that the Dominican Republic dominates the game of baseball. In the Dominican Republic, baseball is the country’s pastime and official sport. Baseball doesn’t discriminate, regardless of gender, race, and economic status. In my personal view, baseball runs in the blood and embedded in the genetic coding of Dominicans. As a person whose mother and father are Dominican and born and raised in Miami, there seems to be little to nothing that connects me to their culture. Nonetheless, this Miami-born Dominican- American is proud to say that the sport I love the most can connect me to the Dominican
In terms of racial inequality in baseball there have been many eras of integration. Baseball originally is seen as America’s national game belonging to the white men of America. However, throughout history there have been steps taken in recognizing and integrating those groups deemed “less favorable” by the American community. These groups include German immigrants, Irish immigrants, African Americans, Latinos, Native Hawaiians, Native Americans, and Asians. America used the game of baseball as a tool to indoctrinate the American ideals and values of teamwork, working hard, and collaborating for the greater good into the cultures of the “uncivilized world.” These groups used baseball as a medium to gain acceptance into the American community as racially equal counterparts.
Mental preparedness separates the average baseball players from the elite ones. A dedicated baseball player shows up ready to play and succeed in whatever situation may arise. Baseball is a mental game, and concentration is key to keeping a player mentally prepared. Baseball is both a fast and slow sport, for it is slow between pitches, but very intense during them. During pitches, it is a players time to regroup himself and think of all the situations that could arise during the next pitch. During the play, everything happens fast, and there is no time to think about what to do, it is all instinct, so the ability to avoid mental errors is crucial. Mental mistakes often lead to physical mistakes, which is when everything goes sour. Mental confidence plays such a critical role in how a person physically plays. When a player is mentally down on himself, it is extremely hard to raise his confidence back up, and most of the time he cannot. A determined baseball player’s mind is totally different, an error is a learning experience,
Baseball is one of the hardest sports to play. Baseball, unlike every other sport, does not have a certain location to bring the ball to or a goal to put the ball in. The team, not only one player, has to work together to win every single game. On average every player has an at-bat three
Baseball has for a long time been a staple in the American sporting culture as baseball and America have grown up together. Exploring the different ages and stages of American society, reveals how baseball has served as both a public reflection of, and vehicle for, the evolution of American culture and society. Many American ways including our landscapes, traditional songs, and pastimes all bear the mark of a game that continues to be identified with America's morals and aspirations. In this paper I will be addressing the long residuals of baseball as it specifically relates to the emergence of the American nation and its principles of nationalism. This is a particularly important issue because baseball seems to be a perfect representative system having many comparative analogies to the larger system of development, America. Since the sport first emerged, baseball and America have shared the same values, responded to the same events, and struggled with the same social and economic issues. To learn of the ideals concerning the sport of baseball in America, is to know the heart and mind of America.
Many people don't understand the point in playing baseball. Why would someone swing a stick, hit a ball, and try to get back to where they started before the ball returns? What pleasure is there in that? Why not participate in a sport like wrestling or track where there is an obvious level of individual improvement and therefore pleasure. Well, I play baseball because of the love I have for the sport, and because of the feeling that overwhelms me every time I walk onto a baseball field. When I walk onto a field I am given the desire to better myself not only as an athlete, but also as a person. The thoughts and feelings I get drive me to work hard towards my goals and to be a better person. The most relevant example of these feelings is when I stepped on the field at Runyon Complex in Pueblo, Colorado during our high school state playoffs in 2003. This baseball field will always be an important place to me.
"Lady, I'm not an athlete. I'm a professional baseball player" (John Kruk). Saying that baseball takes no athleticism is like saying Michael Jordan was bad at basketball, it is false. For example, have you ever seen Addison Russell, the Chicago Cubs shortstop, lay out for a ground ball and capture it, then bounce up from the ground and make a ridiculous throw to first? Making a play like that takes athleticism from another world, Addison needed to possess the hand eye coordination to snag the ball while parallel to the turf and he had to get up and make an acrobatic throw to first. Incredible. Not only does it take this kind of athleticism to make top ten plays, but even on the routine ground ball. Even though people might say baseball is
This game of a stick and ball has captivated the United States during good and bad times. In either time most of us today can remember stories of players from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. These are legendary figures in the sport of baseball that have are celebrated as hero’s and in scandal, i...
Baseball develops hand eye coordination, as you swing the bat, you predict where the ball is going to be and you work from there. If hit you should feel a little jolt. That jolt is your brain telling you what to do next, after you hit the ball you have to run and watch your coach to know what to do next. This can help you with writing and becoming a surgeon because you have more control over your hand.
Certainly the behavior of baseball fans is insane. They wear their official team t-shirts and warm-up jackets to the mall, the store, the classroom, and, if they can get away with it, to work. Then, whenever the team offers a giveaway item, the fans rush out to get the roll-up hat, tote bag, or beer cooler offered that day .