Date: October 3, 1930
Location: Northampton, MA
(Original document available here)
Baseball is our national game. It is peculiarly a local product with the widest popular appeal of any sport. This is because every play can be seen and the game is so easily comprehended that all its fine points can be appreciated. Moreover, while the expense of maintaining a professional team is very great, attendance is so large that admissions remain at popular prices.
It is natural to enjoy a contest. But the interest in baseball is not only from the matching of the skill of the opposing teams. Although the spectators do not touch the ball they nevertheless play a prominent part. Even a championship match with only one beholder would not be baseball. The outdoor air and the relaxation from care are partly the attraction. We go to the game in the hope that with three men on bases the batter for our team will drive the ball over the fence so that we can revel in the intoxication of crowd delirium. That is the common touch of nature reaching from the street urchin to the President which lures us all to the ball field.
While the national sport flourishes we can be sure the race is not growing old
Citation: Calvin Coolidge Says: Dispatches Written by Former-President Coolidge and Syndicated to Newspapers in 1930-1931 (Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation)
The Coolidge Foundation gratefully acknowledges the volunteer efforts of Pamela Mett who prepared this document for digital publication.