What roll did the Civil War have in growing our nation’s pastime? A Kansas City historian says quite a large one.

Bob Ford has studied the War and is a baseball enthusiast. He says the game helped soldiers, especially on the Union side, fight boredom during the frequent down time that came between battles and troop movements.

Even as racial issues were key in the battle of North and South, Ford says race divided those on the baseball diamonds of the day.

Ford also says Abner Doubleday doesn’t deserve credit as the father of baseball. He thinks more of that should go to Albert Spalding (of Spalding athletic supplies) for using Doubleday’s fame as a Union General, to promote the sport.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War.