Among the courses he teaches are U.S. political history, human rights, constitutional law, American foreign policy, and baseball.

[3] A large part of the book is devoted to discussing foreign trips by American baseball teams intended to spread the game to other cultures.

Closer to the U.S, the American military introduced baseball to Cuba and discovered that the Cuban people adopted the game largely as way of creating a national sport not played by Spain which was occupying the country as an imperial power.

Some reviewers lauded Elias' exhaustive research dating back well over 100 years as well as his ability to craft a political argument using sports as a metaphor while others criticized the book's strident tone.

Robert Elias demonstrates that as early as 1888, when Albert Spalding organized a tour designed to thrill people around the world with the game that was increasing his fortune, baseball's relationship to this nation's empire-building was already profitable and mutually satisfactory.

He convincingly demonstrates the cynicism of politicians who have used their temporary association with America's game to encourage support for campaigns of conquest and criminal wars.

Elias' claim that "baseball is Canada's national pastime" would surprise the millions of Canadians ... and after likening "The Bad News Bears" to the Vietnam War, he incongruously asks, "Was it a coincidence that the film came out the same week U.S.

In just one example of his ideological intolerance, he accuses the major leagues of "adopting an often militaristic and jingoistic nationalism that sometimes makes baseball into merely an extension of the government or armed forces.