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Article: Worldly game: the globalization of baseball.
- Article from:
- Harvard International Review
- Article date:
- September 22, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Harvard International Relations Council, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Sixty-one. Probably no other record in any professional sport is so easily recognizable as Roger Maris' record for most home runs in a single season.
The two men who shattered the record this season, although forever joined by "The Chase," come from distinctly different origins. Mark McGwire, the redheaded heir to Babe Ruth's crown, was raised in a quintessential middleclass family. While McGwire played Little League Baseball, Sammy Sosa was thousands of miles to the southeast shining shoes to help support his impoverished Dominican family.
As more and more international players establish themselves in professional baseball, this contrast will become ...