The Boston Red Sox are the most winning baseball team in the 21st century with four World Series titles, and they're not slowing down any time soon. Two of the most prominent organizations in Boston, The Boston Globe and the Boston Red Sox, combine to share a tour de force history of the heralded baseball franchise from the very beginning in 1901, when they were known as the Boston Americans. The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox includes more than 300 articles chronicling the team's rich history as told through the best sports writing and coverage from the beloved Globe reporters, led by veteran sports columnist and an EPPY Award finalist Chad Finn. Relive some of the biggest moments in franchise history, such as their first baseball title ever in 1901, Carlton Fisk's wave home run in 1975, David Ortiz's postseason heroics, and the most dominant Red Sox team ever in 2018. With a foreword from beloved former Sox pitcher and broadcaster, Dennis Eckersley, and Illustrated throughout with hundreds of photographs through every era, and updated through 2022, this beautiful archive celebrates two beloved organizations, and shares the hometown story of one of the world's most popular baseball teams.

Voices of the Game Curt Smith is "...the voice of authority on baseball broadcasting." -USA Today #1 New Release in Photography, Baseball Statistics, Photo Essays, and Photojournalism In this second in a series of Baseball Hall of Fame books, celebrate the larger-than-life role played by radio and TV baseball announcers in enhancing the pleasure of our national pastime. Commemorate the 100th anniversary of baseball broadcasting. The first baseball game ever broadcast on radio was on August 5, 1921 by Harold Wampler Arlin, a part-time baseball announcer on Pittsburgh's KDKA, America's first commercially licensed radio station. The Pirates defeated the Phillies 8-5. An insider's view of baseball. Now you can own Memories from the Microphone and experience baseball from author Curt Smith. He has spent much of his life covering baseball radio and TV, and previously authored baseball books including the classic Voices of The Game. Relive baseball's storied past through the eyes of famed baseball announcers. Organized chronologically, Memories from the Microphone charts the history of baseball broadcasting. Enjoy celebrated stories and personalities that have shaped the game-from Mel Allen to Harry Caray, Vin Scully to Joe Morgan, Ernie Harwell to Red Barber. Also discover: Images from the Baseball Hall of Fame's matchless archive Anecdotes and quotes from Curt Smith's original research Interviews with broadcast greats Little-known stories, such as Ronald Reagan calling games for WHO Des Moines in the 1930s Accounts of diversity in baseball broadcasting, including the TV coverage of Joe Morgan and earlier Hispanic pioneers Buck Canel and Rafael (Felo) Ramirez A special section devoted to the Ford C. Frick Award and inductees since its inception in 1978 Also take a nostalgic trip down baseball's memory lane with other Baseball Hall of Fame books: Picturing America's Pastime, So You Think You Know Baseball, and Baseball Memories and Dreams.

Disapproving scolds. Sexist condescension. Odd theories about the effect of exercise on reproductive organs. Though baseball began as a gender-neutral sport, girls and women of the nineteenth century faced many obstacles on their way to the diamond. Yet all-female nines took the field everywhere. Debra A. Shattuck pulls from newspaper accounts and hard-to-find club archives to reconstruct a forgotten era in baseball history. Her fascinating social history tracks women players who organized baseball clubs for their own enjoyment and even found roster spots on men's teams. Entrepreneurs, meanwhile, packaged women's teams as entertainment, organizing leagues and barnstorming tours. If the women faced financial exploitation and indignities like playing against men in women's clothing, they and countless ballplayers like them nonetheless staked a claim to the nascent national pastime. Shattuck explores how the determination to take their turn at bat thrust female players into narratives of the women's rights movement and transformed perceptions of women's physical and mental capacity. Vivid and eye-opening, Bloomer Girls is a first-of-its-kind portrait of America, its women, and its game.

2021 SABR Baseball Research Award 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Silver Medal Winner Baseball has been called America's true melting pot, a game that unites us as a people. Issei Baseball is the story of the pioneers of Japanese American baseball, Harry Saisho, Ken Kitsuse, Tom Uyeda, Tozan Masko, Kiichi Suzuki, and others-young men who came to the United States to start a new life but found bigotry and discrimination. In 1905 they formed a baseball club in Los Angeles and began playing local amateur teams. Inspired by the Waseda University baseball team's 1905 visit to the West Coast, they became the first Japanese professional baseball club on either side of the Pacific and barnstormed across the American Midwest in 1906 and 1911. Tens of thousands came to see "how the minions of the Mikado played the national pastime." As they played, the Japanese earned the respect of their opponents and fans, breaking down racial stereotypes. Baseball became a bridge between the two cultures, bringing Japanese and Americans together through the shared love of the game. Issei Baseball focuses on the small group of men who formed the first professional and semiprofessional Japanese baseball clubs. These players' story tells the history of early Japanese American baseball, including the placement of Saisho, Kitsuse, and their families in relocation camps during World War II and the Japanese immigrant experience.

Baseball has been Japan's most popular sport for over a century. The Sportsworld of the Hanshin Tigers analyzes Japanese baseball ethnographically by focusing on a single professional team, the Hanshin Tigers. For over fifty years, the Tigers have been the one of the country's most watched and talked-about professional baseball teams, second only to their powerful rivals, the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. Despite a largely losing record, perennial frustration, and infighting among players, the Tigers remain overwhelming sentimental favorites in many parts of the country. This book analyzes the Hanshin Tiger phenomenon, and offers an account of why it has long been so compelling and instructive. Author William Kelly argues that the Tigers represent what he calls a sportsworld -a collective product of the actions of players, coaching staff, management, media, and millions of passionate fans. The team has come to symbolize a powerful counter-narrative to idealized notions of Japanese workplace relations. The Tigers are savored as a melodramatic representation of real corporate life, rife with rivalries and office politics familiar to every Japanese worker. And playing in a historic stadium on the edge of Osaka, they carry the hopes and frustrations of Japan's second city against the all-powerful capital.

Almost Yankees is a poignant and nostalgic narrative of the lives and travails of Minor League Baseball, focusing on the 1981 championship season of the New York Yankees' Triple-A farm club, the Columbus Clippers. That year was especially notable in the annals of baseball history as the year Major League Baseball went on strike in midseason. When that happened, the Clippers were suddenly the best team in baseball and found themselves the focus of national media attention. Many of these Minor Leaguers sensed this was their last, best chance to make an impression and fulfill their dreams to one day reach the majors. The Clippers' raw recruits, prospects, and Minor League veterans responded to this opportunity by playing the greatest baseball of their lives on the greatest team most of them would ever belong to. Then the strike ended, leaving them to return to their ordinary aspirational lives and to be just as quickly forgotten. Almost Yankees is the previously untold baseball story of a team and its players performing in the shadow of one of the sport's most famous teams and infamous owners. Featuring interviews with more than thirty former players (including Steve Balboni, Dave Righetti, Buck Showalter, and Pat Tabler) and dozens of other baseball and media figures, this season's narrative chronicles success, failure, resilience, and redemption as told by a special group of players with hopes and dreams of big-league glory. J. David Herman, who worshipped the team as an eleven-year-old, tracked down his old heroes to learn their stories-and to better understand his own. The season proved to be a launching pad for some, a final chance for others, and the end of the dream for many others.

"Twins Pride" recounts the players, teams, magical moments, riveting rivalries, and memorable venues, plus a special tribute to "Mr. Twin"?Harmon Killebrew. Other features include the all-time Minnesota Twins team, the rosters of all three world championship teams, Twins humor, and more, as told by players, manager, coaches, opponents, fan, and the media.

The Chicago Cubs of the mid-1920s through 1940 were one of the most talented and exciting ball clubs the city ever produced. The Northsiders enjoyed 14 consecutive winning seasons and claimed the National League pennant four times (1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938), but fell to a dominant American League club in each World Series appearance. Four legendary baseball names led these Cub teams during this amazing stretch. Three eventually landed in Cooperstown (McCarthy, Hornsby, Hartnett), and many believe the fourth (Grimm) should have joined them. This was also the era when Cubs Park was transformed into Wrigley Field, under the guidance of Bill Veeck Jr., with its trademark bricks and ivy, hand-operated scoreboard, and outfield bleachers.

A New York Times Bestseller The inside story of how Pete Rose became one of the greatest and most controversial players in the history of baseball Pete Rose was a legend on the field. As baseball's Hit King, he shattered records that were thought to be unbreakable. And during the 1970s, he was the leader of the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds team that dominated the game. But he's also the greatest player who may never enter the Hall of Fame because of his lifetime ban from the sport. Perhaps no other ballplayer's story is so representative of the triumphs and tragedies of our national pastime. In Play Hungry, Rose tells us the story of how, through hard work and sheer will, he became one of the unlikeliest stars of the game. Guided by the dad he idolized, a local sports hero, Pete learned to play hard and always focus on winning. But even with his dad's guidance, Pete was cut from his team as a teenager-he wasn't a natural. Rose was determined, though, and never would be satisfied with anything less than success. His relentless hustle and headfirst style would help him overcome his limitations, leading him to one of the most exciting and brash careers in the history of the sport. Play Hungry is Pete Rose's love letter to the game, and an unvarnished story of life on the diamond. One of the icons of a golden age in baseball, he describes just what it was like to hit (or try to hit) a Bob Gibson fastball or a Gaylord Perry spitball, what happened in that infamous collision at home plate during the 1970 All-Star Game, and what it felt like to topple Ty Cobb's hit record. And he speaks to how he let down his fans, his teammates, and the memory of his dad when he gambled on baseball, breaking the rules of a sport that he loved more than anything else. Told with candor and wry humor-including tales he's never told before-Rose's memoir is his final word on the glories and controversies of his life, and, ultimately, a master class in how to succeed when the odds are stacked against you.

From the team’s inception in 1903, the New York Yankees were a floundering group that played as second-class citizens to the New York Giants. The team was purchased in 1915 by Jacob Ruppert and his partner, Til Huston. Three years later, when Ruppert hired Miller Huggins as manager, the unlikely partnership of the two figures began, one that set into motion the Yankees’ run as the dominant baseball franchise of the 1920s and the rest of the twentieth century, capturing six American League pennants with Huggins at the helm and four more during Ruppert’s lifetime. The Yankees’ success was driven by Ruppert’s executive style and enduring financial commitment, combined with Huggins’s philosophy of continual improvement and personnel development. The Colonel and Hug tells the story of how these two men transformed the Yankees in their rise to dominance. It also tells the larger story of America’s gradual move from neutrality to entry into World War I and the emergence and impact of Prohibition on American society. This story tells of the end of the Deadball Era and the rise of the Lively Ball Era, a gambling scandal, and the collapse of baseball’s governing structure—and the significant role the Yankees played in it all. While the hitting of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig won many games for New York, Ruppert and Huggins institutionalized winning for the Yankees.  

In descriptions of athletes, the word "hero" is bandied about and liberally attached to players with outstanding statistics and championship rings. Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life is the story of a man who epitomized heroism in its truest meaning, holding values and personal interactions to be of utmost importance throughout his life-on the diamond, as a marine in World War II, and in his personal and civic life. A New York City icon and, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, one of the finest first basemen of all time, Gil Hodges (1924-72) managed the Washington Senators and later the New York Mets, leading the 1969 "Miracle Mets" to a World Series championship. A beloved baseball star, Hodges was also an ethical figure whose sturdy values both on and off the field once prompted a Brooklyn priest to tell his congregation to "go home, and say a prayer for Gil Hodges" in order to snap him out of the worst batting slump of his career. Mort Zachter examines Hodges's playing and managing days, but perhaps more important, he unearths his true heroism by emphasizing the impact that Hodges's humanity had on those around him on a daily basis. Hodges was a witty man with a dry sense of humor, and his dignity and humble sacrifice sometimes masked a temper that made Joe Torre refer to him as the "Quiet Inferno." The honesty and integrity that made him so popular to so many remained his defining elements. Firsthand interviews of the many soldiers, friends, family, former teammates, players, and managers who knew and respected Hodges bring the totality of his life into full view, providing a rounded appreciation for this great man and ballplayer. Purchase the audio edition.

Daniel Ponce de Leon's hard-fought journey to Major League Baseball and recovery from a near-death injury, followed by his astonishing big league debut, will inspire readers to trust God in all circumstances. The path you take to achieving your dreams is not always easy. Daniel Ponce de Leon, an acclaimed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, overcame many challenges to get to the Major Leagues. Drafted four times, he spent a long four years climbing his way up through the minors before finally reaching AAA, only one step away from the Major Leagues. Then, Daniel's dream was almost shattered when he was struck in the head by a line drive. Spending weeks in the hospital and months recovering from a large epidural hematoma, skull fracture, brain swelling, and hemorrhaging, Daniel held on to his belief that he would one day realize his dream. Fourteen months later, and fully recovered, he made his first Major League start, becoming the fifth pitcher in modern Major League history to throw seven innings of no-hit ball in his first outing. MLB.com referred to it as one of the greatest debuts in Major League Baseball history. In One Line Drive, Daniel retells his remarkable journey, sharing how he never would have made it without his faith in God and the support of family and friends. Full of grit, determination, and faith, Daniel's story is an inspiring reminder to keep pressing on regardless of any setback or disappointment.

In Baseball Rebels Peter Dreier and Robert Elias examine the key social challenges-racism, sexism and homophobia-that shaped society and worked their way into baseball's culture, economics, and politics. Since baseball emerged in the mid-1800s to become America's pastime, the nation's battles over race, gender, and sexuality have been reflected on the playing field, in the executive suites, in the press box, and in the community. Some of baseball's rebels are widely recognized, but most of them are either little known or known primarily for their baseball achievements-not their political views and activism. Everyone knows the story of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color line, but less known is Sam Nahem, who opposed the racial divide in the U.S. military and organized an integrated military team that won a championship in 1945. Or Toni Stone, the first of three women who played for the Indianapolis Clowns in the previously all-male Negro Leagues. Or Dave Pallone, MLB's first gay umpire. Many players, owners, reporters, and other activists challenged both the baseball establishment and society's status quo. Baseball Rebels tells stories of baseball's reformers and radicals who were influenced by, and in turn influenced, America's broader political and social protest movements, making the game-and society-better along the way.

If an umpire could steal the show in a Major League game, Al Clark might well have been the one to do it. Tough but fair, in his thirty years as a professional umpire he took on some of baseball's great umpire baiters, such as Earl Weaver, Billy Martin, and Dick Williams, while ejecting any number of the game's elite--once tearing a hamstring in the process. He was the first Jewish umpire in American League history, and probably the first to eject his own father from the officials' dressing room. But whatever Clark was doing--officiating at Nolan Ryan's three hundredth win, Cal Ripken's record breaker, or the earthquake World Series of 1989, or braving a labor dispute, an anti-Semitic tirade by a Cy Young Award winner, or a legal imbroglio--it makes for a good story. Called Out but Safe is Clark's outspoken and often hilarious account of his life in baseball from umpire school through the highlights to the inglorious end of his stellar career. Not just a source of baseball history and lore, Clark's book also affords a rare look at what life is like for someone who works for the Major Leagues' other team.

Their names were chanted, crowed, and cursed. Alone they were a shortstop, a second baseman, and a first baseman. But together they were an unstoppable force. Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance came together in rough-and-tumble early twentieth-century Chicago and soon formed the defensive core of the most formidable team in big league baseball, leading the Chicago Cubs to four National League pennants and two World Series championships from 1906 to 1910. At the same time, baseball was transforming from small-time diversion into a nationwide sensation. Americans from all walks of life became infected with "baseball fever," a phenomenon of unprecedented enthusiasm and social impact. The national pastime was coming of age. Tinker to Evers to Chance examines this pivotal moment in American history, when baseball became the game we know today. Each man came from a different corner of the country and brought a distinctive local culture with him: Evers from the Irish-American hothouse of Troy, New York; Tinker from the urban parklands of Kansas City, Missouri; Chance from the verdant fields of California's Central Valley. The stories of these early baseball stars shed unexpected light not only on the evolution of baseball and on the enthusiasm of its players and fans all across America, but also on the broader convulsions transforming the US into a confident new industrial society. With them emerged a truly national culture. This iconic trio helped baseball reinvent itself, but their legend has largely been relegated to myths and barroom trivia. David Rapp's engaging history resets the story and brings these men to life again, enabling us to marvel anew at their feats on the diamond. It's a rare look at one of baseball's first dynasties in action.

Not only was it probably the most cutthroat pennant race in baseball history, it was also a struggle to define how baseball would be played. A Game of Brawl re-creates the rowdy, season-long 1897 battle between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Beaneaters. The Orioles had acquired a reputation as the dirtiest team in baseball. Future Hall of Famers John McGraw, Wee Willie Keeler, and “Foxy� Ned Hanlon were proven winners—but their nasty tactics met with widespread disapproval among fans. So it was that their pennant race with the comparatively saintly Beaneaters took on a decidedly moralistic air.   Bill Felber brings to life the most intensely watched team sporting event in the country’s history to that time. His book captures the drama of the final week, as the race came down to a three-game series. And finally, it conveys the madness of the third and decisive game, when thirty thousand fans literally knocked down the gates and walls of a facility designed to hold ten thousand to watch the Beaneaters grind out a win and bring down baseball’s first and most notorious evil empire.

Organized baseball has survived its share of difficult times, and never was the state of the game more imperiled than during the Great Depression. Or was it? Remarkably, during the economic upheavals of the Depression none of the sixteen Major League Baseball teams folded or moved. In this economist's look at the sport as a business between 1929 and 1941, David George Surdam argues that although it was a very tough decade for baseball, the downturn didn't happen immediately. The 1930 season, after the stock market crash, had record attendance. But by 1931 attendance began to fall rapidly, plummeting 40 percent by 1933.

To adjust, teams reduced expenses by cutting coaches and hiring player-managers. While even the best players, such as Babe Ruth, were forced to take pay cuts, most players continued to earn the same pay in terms of purchasing power. Off the field, owners devised innovative solutions to keep the game afloat, including the development of the Minor League farm system, night baseball, and the first radio broadcasts to diversify teams' income sources.

Using research from primary documents, Surdam analyzes how the economic structure and operations side of Major League Baseball during the Depression took a beating but managed to endure, albeit changed by the societal forces of its time.

The previously untold legacy of Ty Cobb Ty Cobb is a baseball immortal, considered by many the greatest player who ever lived. In an age when the game was young and tough, he cultivated a reputation as the fiercest competitor of them all. Yet after he retired, he realized that the very qualities that helped him reach the pinnacle of his profession also undermined his relationship with his own children. He was deeply depressed when two of his sons died at a very young age. Cobb never had the chance to bridge the emotional distance between them. Herschel Cobb grew up in a chaotic, destructive household. His father was cruel and abusive, and his mother was an adulterous alcoholic. After his father died, when Herschel was eight, he began to spend a portion of each summer with his grandfather. Along with his sister and brother, Herschel visited Ty Cobb at his home in Atherton, California, or at his cabin at Lake Tahoe. These days were filled with adventures, memorable incidents, and discoveries as "Granddaddy" warmed to having his "three redheads" with him. Heart of a Tiger is Herschel Cobb's moving account of how a retired sports star seized a second chance at having a close family, with his grandchildren the lucky recipients of his change of heart. He provided wisdom, laughter, and a consistent affection that left an indelible mark. He proved the enormous power of a grandparent to provide stability, love, and guidance. As he developed this new, wholly different legacy, in turn he would finally come to peace with himself.

Bat, Ball, and Bible chronicles the collision of moral and social forces in the argument over playing baseball on Sunday or upholding New York's blue laws, meant to restrict social activities and maintain Sunday's traditional standing as a day of religious observation. Baseball was at the center of this conflict, which led to social and moral upheaval at a time when New York was already undergoing rapid changes. Bat, Ball, and Bible is not solely about baseball; rather it illuminates one of the earliest instances of a "culture war" whose effects are still being felt today.

Jackie Robinson was a Negro Leaguer before he became a Major Leaguer. So too were Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Monte Irvin, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, and Willie Wells before entering the Baseball Hall of Fame. Invisible Men is the story of their lives in baseball. The Negro baseball leagues were among the most important Black institutions in segregated America, and the players were known and revered throughout Black America, both north and south. At a time when baseball was America's favorite sport, the Negro League players crossed the color barrier to play memorable games with their white Major League counterparts and paved the way for Latin American ballplayers to become part of baseball's history. The Negro Leaguers helped lay the groundwork for the civil rights movement with their achievements and examples. This remarkable narrative is filled with the memories of many surviving Negro League players. What emerges is a glorious chapter in African American history and an often overlooked aspect of our American past. This edition features a new introduction by the author.