After a staging at the Donmar Warehouse in London, it premiered Off-Broadway on September 5, 2002 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater.

It made its Broadway debut on February 27, 2003 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 355 performances and won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play.

Playwright Greenberg has stated that one of the compulsions for creating a baseball play was his complete immersion into the sport in 1999 after following the New York Yankees' (then-)record 114-win season the previous year, beginning with David Wells' perfect game.

[2][3][4] Much of the play is set in the locker room of a professional baseball team, and as such has an all-male cast that explores themes of homophobia, racism, class, and masculinity in sports.

Darren Lemming, a star mixed-race center fielder for the fictional Empires Major League Baseball team, comes out as gay.

Shane is permanently suspended from major league baseball, and arrested for questioning after players say they heard him muttering about wanting to "kill someone" before the game.

In narration, Kippy states to the audience that the Empires went on to win the World Series, and no charges were ever filed against Shane.

The next year, the show transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway with the same cast[6] with the exception of Dominic Fumusa, who was replaced by David Eigenberg.

It featured designs by Scott Pask (scenic), Jess Goldstein (costume), Kevin Adams (lighting), and Janet Kalas (sound).

The Actors' Equity Association, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and 2nd Stage, the owner of the Helen Hayes Theater, released statements sharing their disgust.

The revival was remounted at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and began performances on October 27, 2022 for a limited run of 14 weeks.