Play Ball! The Rise of Baseball as America’s Pastime* (Not just for baseball fans!)

Tuesday, April 9, 2024
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Pathstone Latitude, 115 Rogers Street, Mankato

Note: Member fee is $20 for entire course.

 

The story of baseball is, in many ways, the story of America itself. The Great Courses collaborated with the National Baseball Hall of Fame to produce a course which strikes the perfect balance between sports lore & cultural history. Starting in the early-19th century and ending in 1920 when a sense of uniformity in the game was finally achieved, this course is about the history and cultural significance of baseball and its relationship to national events. 24 short lectures guide you through decades of experimentation, change, controversy, and triumph. You will encounter early baseball giants, learn the origins of everything from catcher's masks to batting averages, and hear the true stories of how women, African Americans, and others overcame adversity on and off the diamond. Each week we will show two 30-minute lectures and supplement those with a relevant video from YouTube, leaving 30-minutes for discussion. We also plan to include a baseball movie (to be determined) as a mid-course break.

Note: If you can’t make it every week, that’s okay.

 

View a more detailed description, including lecture titles and a trailer

*Published by the Great Courses, Copyright: The Teaching Company

 

• Presenters: Steve and Wes Gilbert. Father-and-son team. Wes fell in love with baseball as a young child, played on Mankato’s traveling teams as a youth, and is a rabid Twins fan with a deep understanding of the history and nature of the game. His daytime job is as the owner and CEO of Mankato Computer Technology. Steve is a retired Minnesota State University faculty member who grew up rooting for Mantle and Maris and rediscovered baseball later in life when he had a son who rekindled his interest in the sport.
• Sponsor: Steve Gilbert