HIGH POINT, N.C., June 2, 2015 – For High Point University Associate Professor Paul Ringel, baseball is more than a game. It’s inspiration for research into the profound impact it has made on lifestyle and culture, particularly for the members of baseball’s earliest fan club.
Ringel joined scholars from across the country in presenting research during the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, May 27-29 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. His presentation explored the history of the Royal Rooters, a fan club for the Boston Americans, now known as the Red Sox, which passionately followed the team from the 1890s through the early 1900s.
Ringel, a history professor at HPU whose expertise is in the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, found through his research that the Royal Rooters used their membership in the fan group as a way to improve their economic and social status. Their ability to do this, Ringel says, indicates the shift that baseball made at the time from a “disreputable sport” to “beloved national pastime.”
Although this was a new area of research for Ringel, his love for the game of baseball, especially Boston baseball, and family ties led to his interest in the subject.
“The Royal Rooters mostly came from the neighborhood my grandparents grew up in. They were kids when the Rooters were active, and though they never talked to me about these men, I feel like I’m learning more about where my family comes from through this research,” Ringel says.
The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the State University of New York – Oneonta, provides researchers with a platform to present and discuss a variety of topics concerning the game of baseball and how it relates to culture and society. Presentations at the symposium covered subjects as wide-ranging as the rules of the game, design of ballparks, race and ethnicity, history, art and film, literature, marketing and economics.
“It was exciting to be part of the conference,” Ringel said. “It was a thrill to be able to talk about baseball at the Hall of Fame, and to share ideas with other people who are as passionate about baseball and its history as I am.”