Is Baseball Still America’s Pastime?
For decades, baseball ruled the sporting world and occupied a position of great importance in American culture. But the continued evolution of the National Football League – and several other sports – and the shrinking attention span, have taken the sport of baseball down a notch or two in the pecking order of American sport – and culture. It also prompts the question: Is baseball still
America’s pastime? Baseball historian Frank Garland will examine revenue and attendance trends as well as a new crop of baseball stars to determine if baseball has truly lost its sparkle in the eyes of the American public.
– Frank Garland, M.S.
An assistant professor and the Journalism Communication Program Director at Gannon University, Mr. Garland has taught there for the past 11 years. Prior to coming to Gannon, Mr. Garland worked for 30 years as a news, features, and sports reporter at several Northern California newspapers, including The Modesto Bee and The (Stockton) Record. Raised in Pittsburgh, Garland is a lifelong Pirates fan who spent seven summers researching and writing the definitive biography of Pirates Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, titled Willie Stargell: A Life in Baseball. He is now working on a biography of another Pirate great, Arky Vaughan.
