In flight to San Francisco the other day, I picked up the Colorado Rockies magazine while we were landing and read the following quote from historian Jacques Barzun:
Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.
There is, I think, much truth in that statement, well explicated by Tim Wales here and here. And I note that Ayn Rand never gave evidence of any interest in or knowledge of the game (though as previously noted Rand did not truly understand American culture).