Just like today, Americans were sports crazy in the first decade of the century. The sports of baseball, basketball, football, and boxing all expanded in popularity. The Olympics became an international spectacle of sports. Not content to remain spectators, Americans participated in bowling, golf, and lawn tennis.

Baseball had grown in popularity throughout the nineteenth century and was dominated at the beginning of the decade by the eight-team National League. The American League was formed in 1900 to challenge the National League. By 1903, the two leagues began to cooperate and play games against each other. Attendance at professional baseball games boomed in the decade, growing from 3.6 million in 1901 to 7.2 million in 1910. Fans across America became obsessed with the World Series, which pitted the American League and National League champions against each other. Until 1947, professional baseball was segregated, which meant that black players could not play...