Continuity of Myths

On Halloween, I did something I would never have imagined likely.  I attended that hallowed American institution, the World Series. 

Decades after watching Nolan Ryan's 5,000 strikeout, and cheering Julio Franco's batter's stance, and witnessing Pete Incaviglia's outfield bellyflops at the bygone Arlington Stadium -- decked out in our new fan gear, my wife and I strode into the grandness of Rangers Ballpark and stepped into the mythosphere.

We are a nation given to our myths.  Short on history,
short on national ties, still seeking an American culture,
hardly rooted to village or church or an American past,
we find comfort, sustenance, and indeed continuity in
our myths. ...Baseball is, I suspect, our most
mythological of sports; it has the longest history, it is
by its own proclamation out national pastime,...
It is a sport with its own rhythms and graces,...
-- David Halberstam, "Baseball and the National Mythology,"
Harper's Magazine, September 1970


View of the outfield, during the playing of the national anthem for Game 4 of the 2010 World Series.