I just read today in Lou Boyd’s trivia column the following “fact”:
“In 1918, some returning servicemen who were watching Babe Ruth play in the world series were getting rowdy, so some quick-witted individual asked the band to play The Star-Spangled Banner. A riot was averted, and thus the tradition commenced of playing the national anthem before sporting events.”
So, what do the Teeming Millions have to say? Is L. M. Boyd leading me down the garden path again?
Yes.
Playing the National Anthem before baseball games started during WWI as an attempt to drive up patriotic fervor. Players would often hold military-style drills before the games using bats in place of rifles.
It took a few years before everybody played the National Anthem all the time before the game started. For a while, it was just reserved for holidays and other special occasions (Opening Day, World Series).
By WWII, I believe playing the National Anthem was SOP.
Also, servicemen wouldn’t have been returning in 1918 to watch the World Series. The war wasn’t over yet.
The season that year was also cut short because the government issued a “Work or Fight” order to baseball. The season ended early and a special dispensation was given to the Cubs and Red Sox to play the World Series.
How do they decide whether to play the Canadian or American national anthem first?
If you go see the Blue Jays in Toronto, it goes U.S., then Canada. If you see the Blue Jays play in New York, it goes Canada, then U.S.A.
And if you see the Blue Jays play in Atlanta, they fly the Canadian flag upside down. In other places, they just forget the words to O, Canada. Anything for our friends from the Great White North.
Dan Tilque
And when did playing the anthem become required by law in Pennsylvania, thus giving Sinead O’Connor a platform for yet another obscure political statement?
“The dawn of a new era is felt and not measured.” Walter Lord
You read L. M. Boyd? I’ll never trust anything you say again. 
It is too clear, and so it is hard to see.
Thank you, BobT, for your answer.
ZenBeam, what can I say? In one of the local newspapers, he’s right next to the comics page, so I’m irresistibly drawn to his column, in the same way that people stare at a car accident.
Now, I hope no one takes offense, here, but does BobT have any authority for his explanation? Otherwise, while I consider it a possible story, I can’t say that it has any more validity than the story posted in the OP.
The Star Spangled Banner may have been sung at ballgames in the 1910s and 1920s, but the National Anthem wasn’t. The USA had no national anthem until 1931 when Congress made it official.
So, technically, the tradition of playing the National Anthem before sporting events only dates back to 1931.
Ursa, I guess you get the prize for best answer. That would be good for a trivia quiz!
DSYoung, I trust BobT at least as much as I trust Lou Boyd.
BTW, Arnold, get the damn LA Times!
Just because you live behind the Orange Curtain doesn’t mean you have to read that rag, the Regester. The only thing it’s good for is the funnies and the surf report.
Do they still put Boyd on the same page with Ann Landers, Dear Abby and Miss Manners? Talk about living up to the company one keeps!
Seriously wounded serviceman would have been sent home before the ended of the war, Boston would have been a logical port for them to land.
“The truth does not make a good story; that’s why we have art.”
It took American troops the best part of a year just to get into action, and were in France for barely a year before 11/11/18. The US military wasn’t going to send any troops back to the States before Willy cried “Uncle”. The seriously wounded were treated in France. Many wouldn’t make it back home until after most of the healthy troops started heading back in 1919.
I do get the LA Times at home, but at work someone always leaves the OC Register in the break room, so when I go get my coffee I read the comics that the LA Times doesn’t have, then shuffle on over to the trivia quiz of the day, and Lou is right there staring at me. I’m not strong enough to resist the temptation!
You, sir, are no gentleman. Miss Manners is a true diva, and any lowly columnist should be honored to be placed on the page with her.
The United States declared war on Germany April 6 1917. If any servicemen were on a one-year tour, they most certainly could have been back in the US for a World Series beginning anytime from May on, as could soldiers discharged for whatever reason. Which is not to say I believe the OP is correct, but it’s not necessarily incorrect for this reason.
Jeez, color me embarrassed. I guess I was just so affronted on Miss Manners’ behalf that I neglected to read any further, thus posting pretty much the same response to the troops’ coming home as two other people.