Table of Contents
Popular Culture and Philosophy Series Editor: George A. Reisch
VOLUME 1
Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Bookabout Everything and Nothing (2000)
VOLUME 2
The Simpsons and Philosophy: The Doh! of Homer (2001)
VOLUME 3
The Matrix and Philosophy:
Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)
VOLUME 4
Buffy the Vampire Slayer andPhilosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003)
VOLUME 5
The Lord of the Rings andPhilosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003)
VOLUME 6
Baseball and Philosophy:Thinking Outside the Batters Box (2004)
VOLUME 9
Harry Potter and Philosophy:If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004)
VOLUME 12
Star Wars and Philosophy:More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (2005)
VOLUME 13
Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth,Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005)
VOLUME 17
Bob Dylan and Philosophy: ItsAlright Ma (Im Only Thinking) (2006)
VOLUME 18
Harley-Davidson and Philosophy:Full-Throttle Aristotle (2006)
VOLUME 19
Monty Python and Philosophy:Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006)
VOLUME 23
James Bond and Philosophy:Questions Are Forever (2006)
VOLUME 24
Bullshit and Philosophy:Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time (2006)
VOLUME 25
The Beatles and Philosophy:Nothing You Can Think thatCant Be Thunk (2006)
VOLUME 26
South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating (2007) Edited by Richard Hanley
VOLUME 28
The Grateful Dead and Philosophy:Getting High Minded about Love and Haight (2007) Edited by Steven Gimbel
VOLUME 30
Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007) Edited by George A. Reisch
VOLUME 31
Johnny Cash and Philosophy:The Burning Ring of Truth (2008) Edited by John Huss and David Werther
VOLUME 32
Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy:Darkness on the Edge of Truth (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Doug Anderson
VOLUME 33
Battlestar Galactica andPhilosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008)
Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
VOLUME 34
iPod and Philosophy: iCon of an ePoch (2008) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 35
Star Trek and Philosophy: TheWrath of Kant (2008) Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker
VOLUME 36
The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008) Edited by Luke Cuddy (2008) Edited by Luke Cuddy
VOLUME 37
The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng
VOLUME 38
Radiohead and Philosophy: FitterHappier More Deductive (2009) Edited by Brandon W. Forbes and George A. Reisch
VOLUME 39
Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy:The Porpoise Driven Life (2009) Edited by Erin McKenna and Scott L. Pratt
VOLUME 40
Transformers and Philosophy (2009) Edited by John Shook and Liz Stillwaggon Swan
VOLUME 41
Stephen Colbert and Philosophy: IAm Philosophy (And So Can You!) (2009) Edited by Aaron Allen Schiller
VOLUME 42
Supervillains and Philosophy:Sometimes, Evil Is Its Own Reward (2009) Edited by Ben Dyer
VOLUME 43
The Golden Compass and Philosophy:God Bites the Dust (2009) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison
VOLUME 44
Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: AllWill Be Revealed (2009) Edited by Scott Calef
VOLUME 45
World of Warcraft and Philosophy:Wrath of the Philosopher King (2009) Edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger
VOLUME 46
Mr. Monk and Philosophy: TheCurious Case of the Defective Detective (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
Volume 47
Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan Tamplin
VOLUME 48
The Red Sox and Philosophy: Green Monster Meditations (2010) Edited by Michael Macomber
VOLUME 49
Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad
IN PREPARATION:
Facebook and Philosophy: Whats on Your Mind? (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
Soccer and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Ted Richards
Manga and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman
The Onion and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Sharon M. Kaye
Martial Arts and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Graham Priest and Damon Young
Dune and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Jeffrey Nicholas
Doctor Who and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Paula J. Smithka and Court Lewis
Halo and Philosophy (2011) Edited by Luke Cuddy
Breaking Bad and Philosophy (2011) Edited by David R. Koepsell
For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy books, visit www.opencourtbooks.com.
The Royal Rooters, famed early twentieth-century Red Sox fan club. Courtesy of the Boston Red Sox. Photographer unknown.
Foreword
New England is a unique geographical area. It juts into the Atlantic Ocean daring Mother Nature to unleash its fury. The pine tree covered northern coastline is cold and foreboding. Glacier-strewn rocks, hills, and mountains adorned with majestic forests and swirling rivers, comprise a six-state area that is nationally known by those two words.
For hundreds of years, various sea-faring adventurers from Europe investigated the mysterious and austere shoreline. Finally, in 1620, the Pilgrims landed and miraculously carved out an existence under harsh conditions. I doubt that we can really comprehend what they had to endure to survive that first winter.
Think about the ensuing two hundred and fifty years bringing us to the beginnings of baseball in America: the tenuous relationships with the long-time Native American inhabitants; the toughness to overcome the ravages of terrible diseases such as smallpox; the development of small clusters of roughly-built homes into villages, townships and larger municipalities; the growth beyond simple farming methods to just produce family food into larger farms to supply the growing populace; the ingenuity that took advantage of the many ocean inlets that enabled the building of seaports and dry docks and ships of all sizes and types. It took determination, creativity, and perseverance to forge ahead successfully. Over many years, an image began to develop of the makeup of the New England inhabitants who were arriving from all parts of Europe. Mostly they were stern, god-fearing, tenacious, tillers of the soil, and oceanic adventurers.
