Golden age of baseball

The golden age was dominated by stars such as Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby and especially Babe Ruth, whose called shot was one of the defining moments of the era.

Further, some of the most popular players in the Negro National League included names such as Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, and Mule Suttles.

From a team perspective, the golden age of baseball (using the years 1918-1964 as a guideline) was dominated by the American League's New York Yankees,[4] who won 29 pennants and 20 World Series titles between 1918 and 1964.

Teams travelled primarily by train during the period, occasionally stopping off at saloons and speakeasies in between games, mingling with fans and adding to the mystique of the era, as this is unlikely to happen often today.

Entire franchises were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, at the time, with the Cleveland Indians becoming the first team to be sold for over $1,000,000 when Bob Hope and Bill Veeck bought the club for $1.6 million.

[8] In the early 1900s the Negro National League grew in popularity, despite the fact that white booking agents often had control over when and where the teams would be able to play or practice.

[11] American perspectives on women at this time were that they were meant to be viewed as perfect and feminine, and many thought that for a woman to participate in such physical activities and sports would make them become more masculine.