Baseball has eased America out of its slumps

In 1856, baseball was anointed the “national pastime” in a letter to the editor in the New York Mercury newspaper. On Feb. 2, 1876, Chicago businessman William Hulbert helped form the National League, which included the Cubs — then called the White Stockings — as a charter member. The game survived two world wars, racism, steroids, the infield fly rule, the designated hitter, George Steinbrenner and even the Black Sox scandal. It endured the Great Depression, inspired our national anthem to be…