Baseball Is a Civics Education

Two dramas are the focus of the nation at this moment: the constitutional crisis in Washington, and the World Series—less of a crisis, but still in Washington. These may seem totally unrelated, and yet, there is a striking symmetry between the worlds of American law and American baseball. Baseball is, of course, primarily a sport, but it is also something more than that: a wonderful example of a functioning legal system, one that teaches the millions of Americans who play or watch it fundamental principles of American law and constitutional theory.

Let’s begin with the sport’s legalistic nature: The entire game is regulated by a more elaborate set of rules than any other sport is. At the professional level, it requires a highly trained multi-judge panel of umpires to implement and interpret the rules. Every pitch that does not get hit requires a legal ruling: Was it