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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 215 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 215

       To designate June 19, 1996, as ``National Baseball Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 26, 1996

 Mr. Lautenberg (for himself, Mr. Bradley, and Mr. Moynihan) submitted 
 the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
       To designate June 19, 1996, as ``National Baseball Day''.

Whereas the seeds of modern baseball were planted on the Elysian Fields of 
        Hoboken, New Jersey, on the warm spring afternoon of June 19, 1846;
Whereas on that historic date, one of baseball's earliest and most influential 
        teams, the Knickerbockers, invited a group known as the New York Club to 
        join them for a ``game of ball'' under a unique set of rules that the 
        Knickerbockers had recently devised;
Whereas the game the Knickerbockers conceived so excited and captivated the 
        imagination of sports enthusiasts that other ``baseball clubs'' soon 
        began to assemble;
Whereas these early clubs organized and modeled themselves on the example set by 
        the Knickerbockers and adopted the Knickerbockers written ``Rules of 
        Play'';
Whereas these men and teams were amateurs in the noblest sense of the word, as 
        they played for the sheer joy they found in this new and captivating 
        game;
Whereas over the next decade, the Elysian Fields grew into the first great 
        center of baseball activity in the United States, and began to attract 
        players and spectators from across the Nation;
Whereas Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr. was the guiding force behind the 
        Knickerbockers, and is the American who, perhaps, best deserves the 
        title of ``Father of Modern Baseball'';
Whereas the game of baseball spread north and south along the east coast of the 
        United States;
Whereas today this game is known simply as ``baseball'', a game which, unlike 
        any other, has had a profound influence on generation after generation 
        of Americans;
Whereas for millions of Americans, baseball is part of their earliest childhood 
        memories, including the crack of a bat, the smell of a glove, and the 
        endless summers spent on sandlots and schoolyards in every community 
        across this great Nation in a uniquely American rite of passage;
Whereas for many Americans, their first real heroes wore pinstriped baseball 
        uniforms, and these heroes taught generations of young Americans 
        important values and inspired their first dreams of glory;
Whereas in every American generation for 150 years, baseball has been an 
        important bond between millions of parents and their children who have 
        shared countless afternoons at the ballpark;
Whereas today, baseball binds one generation of Americans to the next through a 
        shared experience that has become central to our cultural identity as a 
        Nation;
Whereas it is often said that to understand America, one must first understand 
        the game of baseball; and
Whereas the designation of a ``National Baseball Day'' will provide an 
        opportunity to celebrate America's ``national pastime'' and to reflect 
        upon a game that has become a metaphor for our Nation's values and a 
        living symbol of our cultural heritage: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate, in recognition of the fundamental role 
that the game of baseball has played in shaping our American 
experience, and as a tribute to those who first pioneered the game, 
designate June 19, 1996, as ``National Baseball Day''. The President is 
authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the 
people of the United States to observe such day with appropriate 
ceremonies and activities.
                                 <all>
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