Nothing Healed America’s Wounds After the Civil War Like Baseball
History Unplugged Podcast
History Unplugged
4.2 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 6 March 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
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Summary
The nineteenth century was a time of rapid growth and development for the game of “base ball,” and players George Wright and Albert Spalding were right in the thick of it. These two young men, the first superstars of the professional game, won the hearts of a country in search of a unifying spirit after a devastating civil war.
Today’s guest is Jeff Orens, author of Selling Baseball: How Superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding Impacted Sports in America. While these two men came from starkly different backgrounds—Albert was a young, gangly pitcher from the country’s rural heartland and George the consummate athlete from the New York City area—their captivating performances on the field, along with their promotion of the game and of sports equipment, fed the public’s insatiable appetite for leisure-time pursuits and helped grow professional baseball to unprecedented heights.
George Wright and Albert Spalding’s stories are woven together to paint a sweeping picture of the early days of professional baseball, the evolution of sports as a business, and the advancement of sports equipment and the sporting goods industry. Their rise as players and businessmen mirrored the rise of a nation that would lead the world in the coming century.
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| 0:19.2 | Scott here with another episode of the History Unplug podcast. The 19th century was a time of rapid growth and development for the game of baseball, and players George Wright and Albert Spalding were right in the thick of it. Yes, it's the Spalding that's on volleyballs across America. These two young men, the first superstars of the professional game, won the hearts in a country in search |
| 0:37.5 | of a unifying spirit after a devastating Civil War. In today's episode, I'm speaking to Jeffrey |
| 0:42.1 | Warren's author of Selling Baseball, how superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding impacted sports |
| 0:47.0 | in America. We look at the sports beginnings, with a tale of these two vibrant personalities |
| 0:51.1 | whose friendly rivalry was integral to the rise of the professional |
| 0:54.1 | game. While they came from very different backgrounds, Albert was a young, gangly pitcher |
| 0:58.8 | from the country's rural heartland, and George was the consummate athlete from the New York City area, |
| 1:03.6 | their performances on the field, along with their promotion of the game and of sports equipment, |
| 1:07.9 | fed the public's insatiable appetite for leisure time pursuits, and helped grow |
| 1:11.6 | professional baseball to unprecedented heights. So in this episode, we're going to look at how professional |
| 1:16.5 | sports took over the United States, how it wasn't something that happened organically, but was |
| 1:21.2 | intentionally designed by the minds of these two, and how their rise as players and businessmen |
| 1:26.0 | near the rise of a nation that would lead the world in the coming century. Hope you enjoyed this discussion. |
| 1:32.9 | And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for a word from our |
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