Baseball is not something one would call a casual sport. Accounting for all of its rich history, generational traditions, and fan-inspired creations, baseball has had quite the dramatic impact on not only the sporting world, but the world at large. Below, we’ll cover 3 items that are either particular to baseball in some respect, or were highly influenced by baseball in their rise to notoriety and fame. That way, when someone asks you to rep for baseball in only a way that a true baseball enthusiast can, you’ll be able to rise to the challenge without a problem.
Item 1: The Baseball Cap
More notorious than any individual baseball team, even iconic franchises like the New York Yankees or the San Francisco Giants, the baseball cap has transcended the sport better than almost anything else that’s come from it. Popular at large amongst people unfamiliar with even simple baseball terminology, it’s hard to find any boy or man in the United States who hasn’t rocked a legitimate baseball cap emblazoned with a team logo, past or present. In fact, baseball caps sell well in many international cities where following baseball is as common there as following soccer is here (which means: hardly at all).
Item 2: High Socks
Sure, soccer enthusiasts can certainly lay claim to this one if they really want to argue over an international perspective, but in the United States, wearing high socks for sports is a tradition best represented by baseball. From the Babe Ruth era and beyond, guys in pinstripes and many other uniforms have been rocking their socks hiked up to the high ends of their calves, usually pulling their pants up to meet. Though in the 1990s and early 2000s wearing short pants almost decimated high socks’ appearance in baseball, players still generally wore them even though they couldn’t be seen. In recent years, players such as Alex Rodriguez and Jim Thome have helped to popularize sporting high socks again, something that baseball reinitiated and which is spreading to basketball, lacrosse, and more.
Item 3: Batting Cages
At first, batting cages were simply built for budding baseball players as places to practice when the weather wasn’t kind or when there wasn’t a pitcher available to practice swing with. As time passed, batting cages began sprouting up all over the place, in kids’ entertainment centers, miniature golf complexes, and more. Taking a swing at a ball tossed at high speeds by a pitching machine is apparently fun even if you’re not a baseball player. In fact, people will pay good money inserting quarters or dollar bills all day to take their turn in front of the pitching machine. Sure, they may not be as widespread as bowling alleys, but who knows how far they’ll go?
