John Thorn is the official historian of Major League Baseball. He’s also the author of a 10-year-old book that I only recently got around to reading, the marvelous Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, which is both a history of the truth (as far as we can reckon), and the history behind the manufacturing of a lie, or at least one of the least plausible creation myths you’ll hear.
This is the jumping-off point of the conversation (OK, well, after some World War II horrors, to keep The Fifth Column audience hooked), and from there it’s all manner of subjects: Ken Burns (John was the main historical consultant on that huge PBS series), immigrant innovation, the importance (and obscurity) of Cuban baseball, the greatest 1860s superstar and tragic early death you’ve never heard about, the ongoing historical heave of understanding and documenting the various Negro Leagues, and why the baseball of Matt’s youth is clearly the most superior. And, of course, Shohei Ohtani.
John’s way more important to the development of baseball historiography and statistical analytics than this conversation has time to get into, but hopefully even non-baseball fans can get into the fun mindspace of the history of the lie.
Why We Need Creation Myths: An Interview With John Thorn