The national sport is still played recreationally: every employer I've ever worked for has a softball (similar to baseball, but with some rules changes for amat

The national sport is still played recreationally: every employer I've ever worked for has a softball (similar to baseball, but with some rules changes for amateurs and a larger ball) team. These teams play in leagues organized by the city Parks Department and play other businesses in the area (car dealership employees vs bakery employees), then everybody goes out for drinks afterwards. Part of this is that football is a relative newcomer as our national pastime, and is largely a product of the broadcast era (radio first, then really taking off with TV). The first precursor to the NFL wasn't formed until 1920. By contrast the World Series had already been played for 17 years at that point, and the precursors of the modern big leages had been around for more than 50 years. Baseball simply had a head start on the popular consciousness, and is much more pleasant for adults to play and still go into work the next day (fewer broken bones, black eyes, bruises, concussions).