Professional Baseball's Emerald Era: Irish Catholics and Early Major League Baseball, 1880–1910

Irish Catholics joined professional baseball in significant numbers between 1880 and 1910 as the game became the dominant spectator sport in the U.S. by the late nineteenth century. Irish ballplayers brought Major League Baseball excitement through rough physical play and wild off-the-field antics. Some Irish players became nationally known stars, such as Michael "King" Kelly, Roger Connor, and John McGraw. Playing starting roles on major league clubs, they innovated techniques that changed how baseball was played. Irish-American Catholics' ultimate impact on America's game was to boost its mass appeal. Their hard play soon attracted Irish fans of the game and they remained fans of baseball even after the presence of Irish-Catholic ballplayers diminished. Catholic fans and commentators had a complicated relationship to the game despite the successes of the professional ballplayers. Catholic commentators saw the benefits of the baseball and actively approved of Catholic community and school teams, but worried about the sport's moral threats to players. Despite the concerns, Catholics by and large supported the sport and the Irish Catholic professionals who played it.