Sentence:  Nor is it an accident that <WSD>baseball</WSD> , growing into the national game in the last 75 years , has become a microcosm of American life , that learned societies such as the American Folklore Society and the American Historical Association were founded in the 1880's , or that courses in American literature , American civilization , American anything have swept our school and college curricula . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs