In studying 19th-century newspaper accounts of the victories of St. Louis over Chicago baseball teams, Gregg Lee Carter shows how the descriptions and hyperbole of the accounts
◦ revealed that sports was seen as entertaining but not having much symbolic significance beyond that.
◦ showed that politicians would be in danger of losing their offices when their city's teams started losing.
◦ demonstrated how baseball became one of the symbols that reflected a mythic self-image and bolstered St. Louis's claim to civic greatness.
◦ demonstrated that baseball was seen as less important than other sports in boosting civic images.