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Christy Mathewson, a pitcher for the New York Giants from 1900-1916.

When New York Made Baseball and Baseball Made New York

The rise of the sport as we know it was centered in Gotham, where big stadiums, heroic characters, and epic sportswriting produced a pastime that bound a city together.
by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on March 25, 2024
Moe Berg in his baseball uniform holding a catchers glove

The Baseball Player-Turned-Spy Who Went Undercover to Assassinate the Nazis' Top Nuclear Scientist

During World War II, the OSS sent Moe Berg to Europe, where he gathered intel on Germany's efforts to build an atomic bomb.
by Zachary Clary via Smithsonian on August 31, 2023
Bruce Lee in a classic pose from the movie ‘Enter the Dragon.'

The Fighting Spirit of Bruce Lee

The actor and martial arts star also wanted to be regarded as a poet-philosopher.
by Jeff Chang via The Wall Street Journal on August 12, 2023
The Milwaukee Turners acrobatic team, 1866.

Socialist Gym Rats Fought to End Slavery in America

Veterans of the 1848 German revolution immigrated to America with three passions burning in their hearts: barbells, beer, and socialism.
by Devin Thomas O’Shea via Jacobin on August 9, 2023
Two horses standing outside of a horse trailer.

A Gallop Through a Horse's Pedigree

An in-depth look at horse breeding.
by Mark Harvey via 3 Quarks Daily on June 5, 2023
A horse and rider diving into a pool.

Remembering When Horse Diving Was an Actual Thing

For 50 years, this bizarre act was one of the Atlantic City's biggest attractions.
by Diana Hubbell via Atlas Obscura on May 9, 2023
Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon Controls Wrestling History in Order to Control All of Wrestling

How the WWE chairman warped pro wrestling all the way to WrestleMania 39.
by Abraham Josephine Riesman via Polygon on March 27, 2023
Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts shaking hands at Super Bowl 57.
partner

It Took Until 2023 for Two Black QBs to Start in a Super Bowl. Here’s Why.

Ideas dating back to slavery have minimized opportunities for Black quarterbacks in the NFL.
by Kate Aguilar via Made By History on February 12, 2023
Strongman Eugen Sandow poses in gladiator sandals and a bejeweled belt, standing on an intricately designed rug and leaning on a classical column, a setting designed to present him as civilized rather than as a “mere breaker of stones.”

Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession

A century ago, physical fitness was part of a strange subculture, where strong bodies were extraordinary and meant to placed on pedestals for people to observe.
by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela via The Gotham Center on January 25, 2023
UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. and USC forward Isaiah Mobley during an NCAA game March 5 in Los Angeles.
partner

History Explains Why It Makes Sense for USC and UCLA to Join the Big Ten

It's the resurrection of an old dream.
by Andrew McGregor via Made By History on July 11, 2022
Ralph Samuelson water skiing

The Man Who Invented Water Skiing

One hundred years ago, Ralph Samuelson successfully skied across the waters of Lake Pepin.
by Sarah Kuta via Smithsonian on July 1, 2022
"IX" surrounded by female athletes

The Pursuit of Equal Play: Reflecting on 50 Years of Title IX

How a 37-word clause tucked inside a new education legislation reshape women’s sports forever.
by Maggie Mertens via Sports Illustrated on May 19, 2022
Nixon, sitting in front of a Meet the Press backdrop, gestures to someone out of frame as a production crew member adjusts his chair.

The Secret History Of Richard Nixon, Mets Sicko

The less known story of Richard Nixon and his genuine love and care for his hometown team, the New York Mets.
by Richard Staff via Defector on May 19, 2022
A diagram of early bicycle wheels.

Going Nowhere Fast

The strange past and even stranger future of the stationary bicycle.
by Jody Rosen via The Atlantic on May 18, 2022
Illustration of Thomas Stevens on his bike

The 19th-Century Hipster Who Pioneered Modern Sportswriting

More than a century before GoPro, Thomas Stevens’ around-the-world bike ride vaulted first-person “sports porn” into the mainstream.
by Robert Isenberg via Longreads on April 26, 2022
Photo of Jackie Robinson and Jacki Robinson Jr at the Youth March for Integrated Schools demonstration in Washington DC with Harry Belafonte.

Jackie Robinson, Pioneer of BDS

The Dodgers great didn’t just break Major League Baseball’s color line. He was also an activist whose legacy reaches from Brooklyn to South Africa to Palestine.
by Robert Ross via The Nation on April 15, 2022
Silver medalists Karen Chen and Nathan Chen pose for a photo after the team event in the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing.
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The ‘Miracle on Ice’ Shaped the Olympics Coverage We’re Seeing Every Night

How rooting for American athletes became part of Olympic TV coverage.
by Bruce Berglund via Made By History on February 9, 2022
Professional wrestling ring surrounded by audience.

“You Know It’s Fake, Right?” Fandom and the Idea of Legitimacy in Professional Wrestling

Promoters and performers in pro wrestling began increasingly prizing entertainment value over maintaining the appearance of legitimate contests.
by Aaron D. Horton via Journal of the History of Ideas Blog on January 10, 2022
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrates after an NFL game.
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Aaron Rodgers Isn’t the First Big-Name Wisconsin Anti-Vaccine Voice

But the media is treating him differently than it treated Matthew Joseph Rodermund more than a century ago.
by Janet Golden via Made By History on November 12, 2021
Tommie Smith on podium receives gold medal with fist raised, holding shoe.
partner

Rule 50 and Racial Justice

The long history of the international olympic committee's war on athletes' free expression.
by Debbie Sharnak, Yannick Kluch via HNN on August 22, 2021
Yankees fans celebrate their win over the Kansas City Royals in the 1976 American League Championship

Why Baseball Fans Stopped Rushing the Field

On Oct. 21, 1980, a beloved tradition was put to a stop.
by Mitchell Nathanson via Slate on October 26, 2020

Black Sox Forever

Reflections on the centennial of America’s greatest sports scandal.
by Harry Stein via City Journal on September 26, 2019

Teddy Roosevelt Hated Baseball

It was a struggle to even get the president to go to a game.
by Ryan Swanson via Literary Hub on August 27, 2019

What Maketh a Man

How queer artist J.C. Leyendecker invented an iconography of twentieth-century American masculinity.
by Tyler Malone via Lapham’s Quarterly on June 10, 2019
"Fleet" Walker (middle row, far left) poses with Oberlin College's first varsity baseball team in 1881. Walker went on to become the first African American major leaguer.

The First African American Major League Baseball Player Isn’t Who You Think

As the country celebrates Jackie Robinson Day, let’s consider the career of Fleet Walker.
by Ronald G. Shafer via Retropolis on April 15, 2019
Marques Colston of the New Orlean Saints during a game, Asim Bharwani, Flickr

The NFL and a History of Black Protest

For far too long, Americans have used football to sell the ideas of democracy and fair play. But for Black America, this is an illusion.
by Louis Moore via Black Perspectives on September 12, 2018

Working, Out

Homophobia at a CrossFit is a good time to remember that gym culture wouldn’t exist without queer people.
by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela via Slate on June 20, 2018
Pat Tillman memorial with American flags.

The NFL, the Military, and the Hijacking of Pat Tillman’s Story

Pat Tillman’s life and death is an all-American story. It’s just not the kind that Donald Trump and his supporters want it to be.
by Ryan Devereaux via The Intercept on September 28, 2017
A 1902 football game mid-play, with men from both sides rushing at each other

God and the Gridiron Game

America's obsession with football is nearly as old as the game itself.
by Paul Putz, Hunter Hampton via Christianity Today on September 6, 2017
The 1879 Yale Football Team posing for a photo with captain Walter Camp.

What Would the Father of American Football Make of the Modern Game?

Walter Camp praised the sport as a way to toughen up élite young white men. Despite changes to the game and society, his legacy remains.
by Ian Crouch via The New Yorker on November 19, 2015
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