“The playing of the anthem multiple times in the 1918 World Series — better remembered here for producing the third Red Sox championship in four years, before a sudden 86-year drought — generated national headlines and helped cement the relationship between the song and spectator sports.” With the song in the headlines these days, let’s look back at the murky origins of the anthem’s marriage with sports.

+ This commentary makes sense: People would respect the anthem more if we stopped putting it where it doesn’t belong.