What sport is known as "America's pastime"?

Let's turn back time and go back to the 19th century. Baseball's emergence in America wasn't just a game being played; it was a cultural phenomenon. But why is baseball called America’s pastime? The game said to have evolved from older bat-and-ball games like rounders, became synonymous with the American identity. The first official game of baseball was played in 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey, but it was the Civil War that catapulted baseball to national prominence. Soldiers from different states played baseball to pass the time, spreading its popularity across the country. This period laid the foundation for baseball as a unifying American pastime, transcending the mere concept of a sport.

Source: Just Bats