Baseball & the Law

In a 1996 article, Dean Michael J. Yelnosky wrote, “because baseball is central to our culture, it is a presumptively appropriate source of metaphorical references.” One could imagine that he would agree that it is also an appropriate source for a law library blog post. 

Baseball and the law has many intersections. There are many court cases about baseball as seen on this podcast and this blog post and this book. There was even a true crime documentary on Netflix from 2017 that very much sits at the intersection of criminal law and a particular baseball game.

Our favorite intersection of baseball and the law is the Green Bag’s Supreme Court Sluggers. These baseball cards present “interesting information about the work of the Supreme Court of the United States” and are immensely “entertaining by providing small, amusing-but-respectful links between the world of law and the world of sport.” An interesting fact is that “many of the paintings by John Sargent and Alec Spangler that are featured on the front of every Sluggers card are in the collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.”

We know so many in our community are missing normalcy right now. We are also aware that for many, normal at this time of year means opening day. Instead of baseball, the Legal Beagle recommends you listen to local baseball fan anthem Tessie and sit back and enjoy Jelle’s Marble Racing with the rest of the world.