By Spencer BallNews Editor
Baseball was once known as America’s favorite pastime. It has been influential to the American people through the tough times of World War II.
In 1959, the Chicago White Sox had won their first pennant since 1919. This is what author and sports historian Chuck Billington talked about last Tuesday on the 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mount Prospect Public Library.
The presentation was also cosponsored by the Mount Prospect Historical Society.
Billington said that he tries to capture the historical and social aspects of the sports during that time period.
The “baby boomer” fans of teams such as the White Sox during the start of the Cold War are the ones that Billington thinks would be interested in those different social factors.
Instead of just delving into the specifics of the game, BIllington talked about the history of the era as a whole, and the different social and economic history of the White Sox as a whole.
He also talked about the cultural phenomenon that was sports during the era.
“The players were real characters,” Billington said. “Because of the sports that they played like baseball, it was a perfect melting pot sport. if you needed a ninth player, it didn’t matter if he was Irish, if he was Lithuanian, if he was german, or even if he went to a different school.”
This is also not the very first library presentation Billington has been at; he said it is around the 75th one he has done.