The American flag is everywhere you look right now, including
the baseball diamond. In a show of solidarity following the
World Trade Center catastrophe, all big league players and
umpires are now wearing American flag patches on their rear
jersey collars. In addition, batting helmets are sporting flag
decals, and most teams have also had small flag emblems woven
into their caps. But while this flurry of activity marks
baseball's most comprehensive show of wartime patriotism (look
closely and you'll see that even the bases are now flag-
imprinted), it's not the game's first such display.  Baseball's
first star-spangled season was 1917, when America entered World
War I. The White Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, and Senators all wore flag
or flag-derived jersey patches that year, and the Chisox went
further by unveiling a special red, white, and blue uniform for
the World Series. (Ironically, this is the same design that the
Sox have been wearing as a throwback uni for their Sunday home
games this season.) The Indians added