Answer:
You mean like "The Big Bang Theory" or Creation as the Bible teaches?
Explanation:
A direct object is a word or words, usually in a form of nouns, that receives the action of the verb in the sentence. In the given sentence above, the direct object is the word "game". The correct answer is option C. The direct object "game" receives the action of the transitive verb "play".
To engage the reader, the author asks a thought-provoking question.
The author asks “...how and when did baseball become recognized as the national sport of the United States?”’to introduce the reader to the topic of the text and cause them to begin considering it.