Interpreting (the work and the talk of) baseball: Perspectives on ballpark culture

Abstract

Baseball, as a cultural institution, is subject to many interpretations. This article reports the findings of one long‐term ethnographic study of the communicative actions and interactions of employees who work at a major league baseball stadium and it reveals how these actions and interactions create and maintain three dominant interpretations of ballpark culture: the ballpark as a site of capitalist work, as a community for symbolic family members, and as a theatre for social drama. The article also discusses how romantics, functionalists, and critics, as students of the game, interpret the meaning of baseball in American culture.