Passion Plays

In Passion Plays How Religion Shaped Sports in North America, Randall Balmer offers a rich, wide-ranging take on the relationship between religion and sports in a relatively slim volume. As he explains in the introduction: “Passion Plays examines how the history of religion across North America connects in fascinating ways to the emergence of modern team sports” (2). The book does not make a case for sports as religion, but rather tracks how religion is one of several major cultural forces, including the social, economic, politic, and demographic. Charting the historical emergence of four major team sports—baseball, football, hockey, and basketball—Balmer endeavors to highlight the “formative moments and circumstances that suggest the larger context, meaning and symbolism of each of the four major team sports” (9). In doing so, he connects these sports to everything from the Industrial Revolution to immigration, the Civil War to colonization, revealing how each sport “developed certain characteristics that explain its appeal in different eras, in different regions, and to different demographic groups” (4).  

Beginning with America’s Pastime, Balmer delves into the “mythical origins” of baseball,  addressing the conflicts and controversies surrounding various narratives about its invention, such as where the first game was played, who invented it, and who discussed it. He also explores the question of its American origins—or if it simply descended from the English games of cricket and rounders (16). Earlier iterations of baseball appeared throughout the country—including Massachusetts, Maine, and Hawai’i—in the late 18th century and through the Civil War. The game was largely solidified during the Industrial Revolution, serving as a kind of respite for workers and a return to the pastoral amid the increasing urbanism of American society (25). 

Balmer then situates the origins and development of football in the US collegiate setting, where it was viewed as a means for the spiritual, intellectual, and physical development of men. The larger social and cultural backdrop of football was significant, as “the event that helped to determine the meaning of the game was the Civil War” (39), with the language and context of the military deeply entangled with its play. In the third chapter, Balmer looks at hockey, tracing its origins in Canada and its roots in games played in Scotland and indigenous/Native games like lacrosse and field hockey. As hockey grew in popularity and migrated to the US, becoming “more continental than strictly Canadian” (87) by the turn of the 20th century, it transitioned from vernacular sport to a regulated and professionalized one. In the final chapter, Balmer guides us through the history of basketball and its origin story, noting the striking lack of controversy around its location (Canada) and creator (James Naismith). Like the other sports, industrialization and immigration played major roles in basketball’s formation, but the urbanization of the American landscape in particular played a vital role in its creation and proliferation (105). 

Religion appears in Balmer’s analysis as he identifies various revealing moments when a sport is called “religion” or “religious.” He highlights parallels between religious imaginaries, like the Garden of Eden with baseball, and ritual structures of religion, like the penalty box in hockey as a form of Catholic penance. Balmer emphasizes the historical development of muscular Christianity and its influence on the emergence of team sports through institutions like the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Catholic Youth Organization, and the Young Men’s Hebrew Associations, along with church-league athletics and other movements related to men and masculinity. Balmer’s argument that America has become a “hothouse for sports” would have been strengthened by more explicitly connecting American national identity and religious devotion in the context of team sports. As Balmer writes, his main goal is to suggest that the increased passion for sports in recent decades has, for many, displaced traditional expressions of religion (6). However, instead of focusing on the conflict between religion and sports, and how (for example) devotion to a sports team can displace religious devotion, it would be intriguing to explore how this devotionalism shapes the religious subject. Rather than viewing it as displacement, we might consider it an extension of (religious) devotion to America. 

While no book can cover every topic or issue comprehensively, highlighting a throughline to the contemporary moment in youth sports culture, sports celebrity culture, and even gender and politics (the tragic lack of attention and support of Brittany Griner’s Russian imprisonment) would not only underscore the religious roots of team sports, but also show how religion shapes sports today. Although the book primarily focuses on the historical development of team sports and the role of religion in fostering devotion to them in the Americas, it also engages with the various social, political, and economic factors that contribute to our understanding of sports culture and American culture at large. 

Overall, the book is both effective and compelling. For me, it was especially meaningful to read the histories of race and racism as integral parts of the development of team sports. In the baseball chapter, Balmer discusses immigration and the struggle to incorporate “outsiders” like Native Americans and, especially, African Americans (28), highlighting the story of Jackie Robinson. Likewise, in the chapter on football, he dedicates a substantial section to University of Alabama football to illustrate how conflicts around integration shaped the sport. In the chapter on hockey, Balmer connects the development of the sport to the methods of colonization and socialization, especially the violent assimilation and erasure of indigenous peoples. Finally, in the basketball chapter, he emphasizes the development of American Cities and the impact of the Great Migration on the sport. 

Passion Plays proved to be an interesting and informative read for this lukewarm team sports fan (but avid soccer mom). It would be a good resource for any undergraduate class focused on (North American) religion, sports, and play. 

Mihee Kim-Kort is a PhD candidate at Indiana University-Bloomington.

Mihee Kim-Kort

Date Of Review:

April 30, 2023