In conclusion, my research examines that although we now think of baseball as nothing more than a sport, its rise and integration into American greatly impacted the concept of childhood and how children navigated many social constructions. Baseball was used by adults as way to preserve an “ideal” American identity, thus impacting childhood differently across race, gender, and class and the spaces these children inhabited and produced. The social inequalities produced by baseball ultimately brought children together rather than separate, and in that movement children were able to create their own baseball identity. The concept of the “ideal” child what be decided by the very children of the game, and would continue to grow as baseball spread.