With incredible skill, passion, and insight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam returns us to a glorious time when the dreams of a now almost forgotten America rested on the crack of a bat.

The year was 1949, and a war-weary nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League, and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions--one that would be decided in an explosive head-to-head confrontation on the last day of the season.

The definitive account of the life and tragic death of baseball legend Lou Gehrig.
Lou Gehrig was a baseball legend--the Iron Horse, the stoic New York Yankee who was the greatest first baseman in history, a man whose consecutive-games streak was ended by a horrible disease that now bears his name. But as this definitive new biography makes clear, Gehrig's life was more complicated--and, perhaps, even more heroic--than anyone really knew.
Drawing on new interviews and more than two hundred pages of previously unpublished letters to and from Gehrig, "Luckiest Man" gives us an intimate portrait of the man who became an American hero: his life as a shy and awkward youth growing up in New York City, his unlikely friendship with Babe Ruth (a friendship that allegedly ended over rumors that Ruth had had an affair with Gehrig's wife), and his stellar career with the Yankees, where his consecutive-games streak stood for more than half a century. What was not previously known, however, is that symptoms of Gehrig's affliction began appearing in 1938, earlier than is commonly acknowledged. Later, aware that he was dying, Gehrig exhibited a perseverance that was truly inspiring; he lived the last two years of his short life with the same grace and dignity with which he gave his now-famous "luckiest man" speech.
Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Jonathan Eig's "Luckiest Man" shows us one of the greatest baseball players of all time as we've never seen him before.

From the genesis of baseball in the 1840s, when so-called ?kranks? cheered the teams of their choice, fans have been an ever-present component of the sport. As the number of fans has increased over the years, their influence has increased proportionally. Following the evolution of the game and its fans over more than a century, this book examines the role fans have played in the formation of modern baseball and the part the sport has played in the lives of its devotees. How have fans influenced, reacted to, or been affected by baseball's changes through history? How do fans determine player popularity? Are there famous fans?and how do they manifest that interest? How has the evolution of baseball in the media, including newspapers, radio, and television, affected the fan base? The answers to these questions and more give a lively feel to this baseball history from a fan's perspective. The final chapter sums up the fan's importance to the sport of baseball.

The Detroit Tigers have been marked neither by dynasties nor doldrums. The Tigers captured just four World Series championships since becoming a charter member of the junior circuit in 1901. They compiled a record barely above .500 during that 120-year span. They have suffered through seasons of failure so pronounced that they have gone down as some of the worst in the annals of baseball. But their periodic years of greatness have proven so memorable that they have remained in the hearts and minds of Tigers fans forever. They have provided a sense of pride and optimism to even the most fervent and critical followers during the most woeful periods. This book covers the entirety of Tigers history and even delves into the birth of professional baseball in Detroit in the National League to its continuation in the Western League, which morphed into the American League. This book details the Tigers' greatest and most interesting teams, players, moments, and eras.

Gabby Harnett is believed by many to be the greatest catcher of all time. This work chronicles Hartnett's life from his early years in Millville, Massachusetts, through his twenty-year career with the Chicago Cubs as player and manager, his time in various capacities in the minor leagues and with the New York Giants and Kansas City Athletics, to his post-major league career as a businessman in Chicago. His childhood, early baseball experiences with the local team and with a nearby prep school, and his first professional baseball season with the Worcester Boosters of the Eastern League are covered in detail. Hartnett's major league career as the catcher for the Cubs is well-documented, including his near career-ending arm injury in 1929, the 1932 World Series that featured Babe Ruth's legendary ""called shot,"" and Hartnett's famous ""homer in the gloamin"" against the Pittsburgh Pirates that propelled Chicago to the 1938 National League pennant. The author also compares Hartnett's statistics to those of his famous contemporaries, Mickey Cochrane and Bill Dickey, on a year-by-year basis.

Very few people are aware that women were active in baseball in the United States as early as 1866. In this volume, Gai Berlage reports the histories of the umpires, players, owners, and sportswriters as well as the teams. Professional and amateur teams are covered as well as hard and softball. In 1974, when the Supreme Court forced Little League to change its charter and permit girls to play baseball on boys' teams, feminists cheered, heralding the decision as a significant victory. How short their memories were! Had investigators only looked to baseball history, they would have learned, much to their surprise, that women had been avidly playing baseball for over a hundred years--as far back as 1866. In 1928, one female Indiana player helped lead her team to the state championship and on to the national tournament in American League Junior Baseball. And during World War II, Wrigley started the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In fact, not until 1952 was there a rule barring women from being professional players. Women in Baseball offers the details of this compelling, largely overlooked aspect of baseball history, introducing the reader to a whole new cast of little-known stars on men's teams: Lizzie Arlington, a pitcher in 1898; Alta Weiss, a pitcher for 15 years in the early 20th century; Lizzie Murphy, who played first base for the American All-Stars against the Boston Red Sox; Jackie Mitchell, who became a media sensation in 1931 when she struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The author also reveals the stories of women's professional and amateur teams--Josie Caruso and her Eight Men, the Chicago Bloomer Girls, and the all-black Dolly Vardens of Philadelphia--and introduces women who distinguished themselves as players, umpires, and team owners. Women in Baseball explores the history of women in baseball from a socio-cultural perspective, analyzing how it was forgotten in the light of residual Victorian values that governed women's lives for so many decades.

One of America's greatest third basemen tells the story of his 17 years in baseball, his daily struggle against near-fatal diabetes, and of the lifelong love affair with the Cubs that brought him back to Wrigley Field's broadcast booth 15 years after he played his last game.

Millions of kids throughout the country participate in organized youth programs each year. It's an exciting world of colorful uniforms, post-game ice cream treats, and lots of smiling faces. It's also one in which you as a parent can make a positive difference in helping your youngster grow and make the most of this experience. The "Rules & Tools of the Game Series is here to lend a hand. Each of the five books in this series focuses on a different sport--baseball/softball, basketball, football, hockey, or soccer--and offers a wealth of useful advice to help your child: Set and meet goals for the season. Develop the necessary skills for enjoyment of the sport. Build confidence and self-esteem. Display proper behavior and good sportsmanship at all times. Strive always to do his or her best. Effectively deal with disappointments, conflicts, and other challenges. Respect coaches, teammates, and opposing players. Prevent injuries through safety measures. No matter what their age, children are going to remember this time forever. The "Rules & Tools of the Game Series is an invaluable resource to help them maximize the experience.

The third in the Diamond Communications series, this little paperback offers insight, wisdom and humor tailored especially for fans of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In this collection of interviews, baseball players, coaches, and managers speak candidly about their most memorable moments and experiences in baseballs big leagues. Their recollections of the former big leaguers often come from their early years spent learning the game, their first time stepping on the field as a big leaguer, their first strikeout as a pitcher, or their first hit as a batter--to the more disappointing moments such as a first trade, a World Series loss, or a release signaling the end of a career. Bob Friend, Bobby Thomson, Johnny Pesky, Jim Kaat, Frank Malzone, Dale Berra, Larry Bowa, Gil McDougald, Gene Garber, Billy Sample, Nellie Briles, Jon Matlack, Catfish Hunter, Fred Patek, Vern Law, Clem Labine, Virgil Trucks, Frank Tanana, Jimmy Greengrass, Bill Virdon, Sparky Anderson, Dick Williams, Hector Lopez, and Ralph Houk are the interviewees.

Each played baseball as kids. They all played together on a college baseball juggernaut at Seton Hall. All of them wanted to make baseball their life. The Hit Men and the Kid Who Batted Ninth traces the baseball lives of Craig Biggio, Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, and Marteese Robinson—from the playgrounds through college ball to the big leagues—revealing a fascinating and personal account of four routes to the same destination and dream.

The first book in the GAME CHANGERS sports series answers the questions: What were the 50 most revolutionary personalities, rules, pieces of equipment, controversies, organizational changes, radio and television advancements, and more in the history National Pastime? And how, exactly, did they forever change the game? Baseball’s Game Changers offers fascinating, detailed explanations along with a ranking system from 1 to 50 that is sure to inspire debate among baseball aficionados. Ranging from each sport’s beginnings to today and tackling on-the-field and off-the-field developments, the Game Changers series offers a history of each sport through their turning-points and innovations. Full-color, and including 60 photos plus pull-outs and sidebars, books within the Game Changers series are important and entertaining additions to every sports fan’s library.

When legendary Chicago Cubs' broadcaster Harry Caray passed away in February of 1998, thousands of baseball fans mourned the loss. In Where's Harry?, Steve Stone pays tribute to one of baseball's biggest legends never to take the field, remembering the unique baseball commentator who was also the game's biggest fan.