The Giants' accomplishments took place against an historical backdrop of a change in the African-American experience. The original players from Jacksonville, Florida, joined the northward black migration during World War I. The team was named after Harry Bacharach - an Atlantic City politician running for mayor - as a way to keep his name before the city's black community. The Giants were immediately successful, and soon played the best semi-professional teams in their region, as well as the top black teams from the East and Midwest. They entered the first Negro league on the East Coast in 1923, and won the league championship twice before the decade ended. This book chronicles the Giants' pivotal role in the development of black baseball in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, and the careers of the men who made it possible.

A gentleman when the game was hard-bitten, played by rough-and-ready lads out to win whatever the cost..."" Australia had few sporting heroes in the years preceding its federation in 1901. But before its twentieth-century Olympic trailblazers and Depression-era icons such as Phar Lap and Don Bradman, came an Australian sporting pioneer who was celebrated on the most glamorous stage in the world - American major league baseball. Joe Quinn's story has, until now, been lost in the land of his birth. This tale gallops from the deprivation of famine-ravaged Ireland through colonial Australia to the raucous ballfields of nineteenth-century America, with their unruly players and owners, affray and adulation and backroom betrayals. Through 17 seasons in the major leagues, ""Undertaker"" Joe Quinn earned his place amongst the colourful characters who pioneered the modern game of baseball, as much for his ability to stand apart from their bad behaviour as for his steadfastness on the field. Meet Australia's first professional baseball player and manager, a man born to Irish refugees in an outback squatter's camp and whose willingness to ""have a go"" in the grand Australian tradition will live long in the minds of sports fans on both sides of the Pacific.

Pedro Martinez. Sammy Sosa. Manny Ramirez. By 2000, Dominican baseball players were in every Major League clubhouse, and regularly winning every baseball award. In 2002, Omar Minaya became the first Dominican general manager of a Major League team. But how did this codependent relationship between MLB and Dominican talent arise and thrive? In his incisive and engaging book, Dominican Baseball, Alan Klein examines the history of MLB's presence and influence in the Dominican Republic, the development of the booming industry and academies, and the dependence on Dominican player developers, known as buscones. He also addresses issues of identity fraud and the use of performance-enhancing drugs as hopefuls seek to play professionally. Dominican Baseball charts the trajectory of the economic flows of this transnational exchange, and the pride Dominicans feel in their growing influence in the sport. Klein also uncovers the prejudice that prompts MLB to diminish Dominican claims on legitimacy. This sharp, smartly argued book deftly chronicles the uneasy and often contested relations of the contemporary Dominican game and industry.

Basing his claims on more than 130 in-depth interviews with baseball fans from ages 10 to 80, the author arrives at some extraordinary conclusions about the prismatic richness of the fan's experience of baseball and its importance in his or her life. The responses, 40 of which are reproduced in this oral history, suggest three major hypotheses: that how the youthful fan regards the game is a resonant expression of his personality, his family and social situation, and his fundamental needs; that baseball, far more than a pastime or idle entertainment, serves a number of extremely important emotional and developmental functions - moral, social, aesthetic and psychological - in the lives of its younger fans; and that one of baseball's less frequently heralded virtues is its extraordinary richness, its capacity to turn a different face to almost every fan and to satisfy that remarkably wide range of personalities, backgrounds and needs. What these interviews suggest and what the author's introductory sections argue is that to its most ardent young fans, baseball is not only a source of great and lasting pleasure, but an important socialising agent and a vital expression and determinant of character.

This account of the four baseball seasons of 1900 through 1903 seeks to capture the flavour of the period by providing yearly overviews from the standpoint of each team and by focusing more deeply on 30 or more players of the era - not only such legendary stars as Cy Young and Willie Keeler, but also relative unknowns such as Bill Keister and Kip Selbach. Each team section is supplemented by a table providing the significant batting and pitching statistics for each regular team member. The major theme of the period was the baseball war between the National and American leagues from 1900 to 1903. But the broad multiseason, multiteam view allows varying the focus. The pennant races receive due attention but there are other aspects of the baseball drama, such as: the aging star who finds a way to extend his period of dominance (Cy Young); the young, unpolished phenom whose raw talent enables him to excel (Christy Mathewson); and the fierce competitor who risks injury to help his team (Joe McGinnity and Deacon Phillippe).

Most baseball fans identify Tom Candiotti first and foremost as a knuckleball pitcher. He actually began his career as a conventional pitcher in 1983 after becoming just the second player to appear in the major leagues following Tommy John surgery, at a time when only Tommy John himself had ever come back from the operation. Candiotti, whose arm recovered following the surgery, threw fastballs and curveballs in his first two years in the majors before switching over to the knuckleball prior to the 1986 season. Though he would then go on to use the knuckleball primarily throughout the rest of his career, he also threw a good enough curveball to get hitters out. This biography is based on the recollections of Candiotti himself, his former teammates and managers, newspaper and periodical accounts, and archival resources.

This is the first book-length biography of Ed McKean, one of the nineteenth-century's premier shortstops. It is also the story of the so-called Emerald Age of baseball and leading Irish figures including Patsy Tebeau, Jimmy McAleer, John MGraw, and Hughie Jennings.

This book chronicles the history of the Philadelphia Athletics, the first real dynasty in Major League Baseball. The focus of the book is the 1931 season, where Philadelphia, led by is superstar pitcher, Lefty Grove, had the best season in franchise history, leading to a third consecutive trip to the World Series. With a roster full of future Hall of Fame players like Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Connie Mack, and Lefty Grove, the Athletics were one of the best baseball teams of all time, and the 1931 season served as the apex of their success, as the financial restrictions of the Great Depression caused team ownership to break up the team.

Go to the Head of the Class with a Baseball Legend Baseball legend Casey Stengel is considered by many to be the greatest manager in baseball history. He was certainly one of the most successful. He managed the fabled New York Yankees from 1949 to 1960 and compiled ten American League pennants and seven world championships during that time. He was also without question one of the game's all-time characters, best known for conversing in a mangled form of English that came to be known as Stengelese."" Beyond the comedy and the world championships, however, his baseball life spanned the ages, from the dead-ball era to Astro Turf. He began his big league career by playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1912 and ended it by managing the hapless New York Mets in 1965. Between the first and last stop, Stengel was a World Series hero; a failed manager with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves; a washed-up, aging manager in the minors; and the wacky interloper who took over the stuffy, staid Yankees in 1949 and reformed them into a dynasty. In Casey Stengel: Baseball's ""Old Perfessor, "" dozens of former players, friends, and associates recall the Stengel myth and the Stengel reality. They explore his managing style with great teams and with horrible teams; his pioneering, controversial techniques; his humor, his edginess, and his weaknesses; why some players hated him while others loved him; why some think he was a genius and others think he was merely the right man in the right place at the right time. What emerges is a fascinating ride through baseball history and a thoughtful look at the life of a man who was counted out, mocked, and underestimated--and yet he never gave up, finally findingsuccess in his later years.""

For more than a century Johnny Evers has been conjoined with Chicago Cubs teammates Frank Chance and Joe Tinker, thanks to eight lines of verse penned by a well-known New York columnist. He has been caricatured as a scrawny, sour man who couldn't hit and who owed his fame to that poem. In truth Johnny Evers was the heartbeat of one of the greatest teams of the 20th century and the fiercest competitor this side of Ty Cobb. He was at the centre of one of baseball's greatest controversies, a chance event that sealed his stardom and stole a pennant from John McGraw and the New York Giants in 1908. Six years later, following a stunning set of reversals and tragedies that resulted in his suffering a nervous breakdown, he made a comeback with the Boston Braves and led that team to the most improbable of championships. Spanning the time from his birth in Troy, New York, to his death less than a year after his election to the Hall of Fame, this is the biography of a man who literally wrote the book about playing his position and set the standard for winning baseball.

Described by Richard William of The Guardian as 'the best sports book of 2013, and the best sports book of all time', The Boys of Summer is the story of the young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s, and went on to play for one of the most exciting major-league ball clubs ever fielded, the Brooklyn Dodgers team that broke the colour barrier with Jackie Robinson. It is a book by and about a sportswriter who grew up near Ebbets Field, and who had the good fortune in the 1950s to cover the Dodgers for The Herald Tribune. A story about what happened to Jackie, Carl Erskine, Pee Wee Reese, and the others when the glory days were behind them, it is also a book about fathers and sons and the making of modern America.

This work is a game-by-game account of the Philadelphia Athletics' pitiful 1916 season, one where they won just 37 of 154 games. It starts with a brief biography of the team's living symbol-A's manager and coowner Connie Mack-through the birth of the franchise and into its first era of glory in which the A's won world championships in 1910, 1911, and 1913. Following the A's stunning defeat in the 1914 World Series to the underdog Boston Braves, Mack dismantled his championship club and finished last in the American League for seven straight seasons. The 1916 campaign was the nadir. The team's few solid veterans had a supporting cast of underachievers, college boys, raw rookies, no-hopers, and sub-par pitching. The book chronicles the daily grind of a team that had no chance to begin with and quickly became the laughing stocks of the AL. It contains many humorous anecdotes!

In 1973, Roberto Clemente was honored as the first baseball player born outside the continental U.S. to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the former Pittsburgh Pirate amassed 3,000 career hits and 240 home runs. Since then, eight more international players of Major League Baseball have been voted into the Hall of Fame, including recent inductees Roberto Alomar (Puerto Rico) and Bert Blyleven (Netherlands). These Hall of Famers are but a few of the many non-native players who have contributed significantly to Major League Baseball, dating all the way back to 1876 and up to the present. Baseball beyond Borders: From Distant Lands to the Major Leagues not only examines the careers of foreign-born and Puerto Rican baseball players, but also goes beyond the players to look at managers, executives, coaches, and officials of Major League Baseball, as well. This book explores the impact and performances of these individuals on MLB and the minor leagues, and their contributions to the expansion and popularity of American baseball in the U.S. and around the world. Baseball beyond Borders offers a historical perspective of when, why, and how emigrants came to play professional baseball in the U.S. and also provides background information on baseball in foreign countries, baseball leagues outside the U.S., and the academies run by MLB on foreign soil. Featuring photographs, statistics, and bios, this unique book presents a comprehensive look at the impact players and staff born outside the U.S. have had on baseball both in the U.S. and beyond. Baseball fans and sports historians will enjoy reading Baseball beyond Borders, as will anyone wishing to learn more about the influence of foreigners on America s national pastime."

Ron Necciai once struck out 27 hitters in a nine-inning minor league game. Floyd Giebell beat Bob Feller to clinch the 1940 American League pennant for the Detroit Tigers. John Paciorek had three hits in three at bats in his big league debut-and never played another game in the majors. These three players and twelve other talented men (Bill Koski, Ed Sanicki, Joe Stanka, Bill Rohr, Al Autry, Joe Brovia, John Leovich, Bert Shepard, Doug Clarey, Marshall Mauldin, Bernie Williams, and Frank Leja) reached the top of their profession only to sink back into obscurity. Through interviews with all the players and extensive research, their stories are told-from their triumphs to their swift disappointments. Major and minor league year-by-year statistics for each player are included.

Homer-by-homer, this heavily researched work recounts the inimitable Babe Ruth's finest season. In that magical 1927 season, Ruth blasted homers off 33 different pitchers and hit at least one against every American League opponent. Two hurlers yielded four homers each to the Bambino, while seven pitchers allowed at least three. Interwoven with this recounting is the story of the budding rivalry between Ruth and teammate Lou Gehrig, as the two Yankees matched homers for much of the season. Fresh statistical analyses are provided and boxscores are included for all games in which Ruth hit a home run.

For many fans in the 1940s and 1950s, it wasn't the exploits of major leagues that made baseball so popular. It was the local minor league heroes-often lacking the talent or luck to make it to the majors-who dominated their thoughts of baseball. One of these players was Eddie Neville. A gutsy, left-handed pitcher from the sandlots of Baltimore, Neville made his mark on the minor league towns he played in, particularly Durham, North Carolina, where he is still the winningest pitcher in the history of the Durham Bulls. His story is one of Class D pennant races and winters spent in the Canal Zone of Panama, all the time chasing the elusive dream to play in the big leagues. Blended in are looks at minor league personalities such as ""Muscle"" Shoals and ""Turkey"" Tyson and future major leaguers such as Tom Lasorda and Dick Groat.

A strong-armed devastating spitball pitcher from rural Tennessee who once won 16 games with the Boston Braves, Hub Perdue is better remembered today as one of the clown princes of the Deadball Era. Often compared with fellow player-comedians Germany Schaefer, Nick Altrock, and Rabbit Maranville, Perdue had a quick wit and a rebellious streak that amused teammates but sometimes led to conflicts with management and umpires. (""Mix 'em up!"" manager George Stallings had told him, encouraging the weak-hitting pitcher to take his at-bats more seriously; Perdue, a right-hander, dutifully took his strikeouts from alternating sides of the plate.) His penchant for the subversive--he was also a players' union representative who freely dispensed advice on contracts and negotiation--might in fact have curtailed what had been a promising big league career. But his antics in the majors and minors became the stuff of legend, known as ""Hublore.

Described as ""the Greatest Batsman in the Country"" by sports writers of his era, Dennis ""Big Dan"" Brouthers compiled a .342 batting average, tying with Babe Ruth for ninth place all-time, and slugged 205 triples, eighth all time, in 16 major league seasons. He won five batting and on-base percentage titles, and seven slugging titles, and was the first player to win batting and slugging crowns in successive years. Although he ranked fourth among nineteenth-century home run hitters, many fair balls he hit into the stands or over the fence were counted only as doubles or triples due to local ground rules. Brouthers was extremely difficult to strike out--in 1889, for example, he did so just six times in 565 plate appearances. He was the first player to be walked intentionally on a regular basis. This comprehensive biography of Dan Brouthers examines his life and career from his youth as an apprentice in a print and dye factory to his final years as an attendant at the Polo Grounds. It corrects numerous errors that have crept into earlier accounts of his life, and clarifies his position as one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game.

The book is the day by day story of the 1954 Indians, whose .721 winning percentage is still the highest in American League history. It tells how down the city of Cleveland was on the team following three straight second place finishes, how little was expected of it by its fans, and even some of its players, and how it exceeded all expectations by winning a league-record 111 games and a pennant, before flopping in the World Series.

Baseball followers have been perpetuating, debating, and debunking myths for nearly two centuries, producing a treasury of baseball stories and "facts." Yet never before have these elements of baseball history been carefully scrutinized and compiled into one comprehensive work-until now. In Baseball Myths: Debating, Debunking, and Disproving Tales from the Diamond, award-winning researcher Bill Deane examines baseball legends-old and new. This book covers such legendary players as Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Pete Rose, and Derek Jeter, while also looking at lesser-known figures like Dummy Hoy, Grover Land, Wally Pipp, and Babe Herman-not to mention people who found fame in other fields, such as Civil War General Abner Doubleday, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Deane's original research and logic will educate, amuse, and often surprise readers, revealing the truth behind such legends as the inventor of baseball, the first black player in the major leagues, and even the origin of the hot dog. With photographs, stats, and more than 80 myths examined, this book is sure to fascinate everyone, from the casual baseball fan to lifelong devotees of the sport.

What were the business aspects of professional baseball during World War II? The sport, like many nonessential industries, struggled to find its place in society during a time of war. The men who ran the game faced government interference and manpower shortages that threatened to shut down their businesses for the duration, and they had to balance the need to show a patriotic front to the public while at the same time protecting their investments. Archival and primary sources provide insight into the perceptions of the major league owners and an understanding of how most of them were able to keep their businesses profitable while the nation fought an enormous two-front war.

George Altman grew up in the segregated South but through a mix of timing and opportunity was able to participate in the sport at more levels of competition than perhaps anyone else who has ever played the game, starting in the 1940s and concluding in the 1970s. Not only did Altman play baseball at all of the usual kids' levels, he played college baseball at Tennessee State University, played for the Kansas City Monarchs during the waning days of the Negro Leagues, played for the US Army in service competition, played winter league ball in Cuba and Panama, spent nine years in the majors with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets as a two-time All-Star outfielder, and then culminated his remarkable career by playing in Japan where he was a regular All-Star. For Altman, it was a case of ""Have bat, will travel."" When it comes to baseball, Altman has seen it all and he offers illuminating observations about teams, fans and the game as he journeyed around the world to play it.

After many disappointing seasons during the 1930s, the 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates looked like they were finally poised to claim their first National League pennant since 1927. A hot streak during June and July propelled manager Pie Traynor's squad into first place. After holding down the top spot for more than two months, Pittsburgh could not hold off the charging Chicago Cubs and experienced one of the most monumental collapses in baseball history. This detailed historical account examines the entire 1938 season, while also looking at the players and events that were a major part of this star-crossed season.

This is an oral history of the Latin American Baseball Leagues of the mid-20th century. Interviews with dozens of former major league players, who participated in the winter leagues of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, provide a fascinating view of life in all of these countries during baseball's most nostalgic era. For the majority of the players, it was the first time in their lives living in a foreign country; some of the more fortunate made trips to the Caribbean Series. The players' recollections range from their experiences on and off the field, to where they lived, what they ate, the ballparks, other players and irrepressible fans. The stories are often juxtaposed against the backdrop of Latin American political history, adding to the unique international flavor.