How does baseball, and especially its literature, propagate and foster American cultural myths?
             "If you build it, they will come."
             "Say it ain't so, Joe."
             These familiar phrases, from the films "Field of Dreams" and "Eight Men Out," respectively, exemplify the mythical centrality of baseball in American culture. Books and the film version of The Natural suggest that every individual can succeed, provided he takes a risk and dares to realize his dreams. This is also the theme of "Field of Dreams," which shows how a man who has a vision about a baseball field accomplishes the miraculous. Even the seedy side of baseball shown in "Eight Men Out" suggests that the good are rewarded, and evil-doers are punished-a reality on screen, but not the reality of the game. This is evidenced in the example of the Mitchell Commission, which is trying to reestablish fair, drug-free play in a league after years of steroid use by record-setting athletes.
             The idea that dreams can come true if only someone believes and works hard is why baseball is so cherished in American culture, even if that dream is a drug-hazed lie. Ever since the turn of the century, the familiar crack of the bat, the image of Babe Ruth rounding the bases for a home run he was hitting for a sick child in the hospital, the peanuts, crackerjacks and hot dogs at the stadium, and the legendary rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox have all become iconic parts of Americana. Baseball is a sport of individual excellence, exemplified in the tension-soaked moment when a batter stands at the plate, with three men on the bases. Yet it is also a team sport, as the players must work seamlessly together as a team for a game truly to be 'great.' Team loyalties can inspire fanatical devotion, as the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, or Boston Red Sox come to represent an entire city, borough, or era. The im
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