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.

When a batter races toward first base and players scramble to make a tough play, anything can happen. Tales From First Base is a humorous and insightful look at the players, coaches and umpires who have spent time along those first ninety feet of the base path. Wayne Stewart and Brad Engel check out some of the funniest players and most amusing incidents from this corner of the field, such as the time Larry Walker held a running conversation with opposing cornerman Mark Grace in the dirt around the bag. The authors also examine the slickest gloves at first base and how they defended the many plays around that bag. Readers will also learn about the first sackers'roles in some of the most famous plays of all time. In a tight playoff game, Giants first baseman Whitey Lockman prayed to God with his first base coach. They both looked up to the sky and said, "We need some help here if there is anything you can do." Moments later, Bobby Thomson hit his "Shot Heard 'Round the World" to win the National League pennant for the Giants. Packed with exclusive interviews with journalists, players, and fans alike, this book will appeal to a wide audience, both newcomers to the game and lifelong, die-hard fanatics. About the Author Brad Engel has covered sports professionally for the past ten years and is currently the sports editor of the Naperville (Illinois) Sun. He is a former freelancer for the Chicago Sun-Times and Dallas Morning News and has won four national awards and the Chicago Headline Club's Peter Lisagor Award for his sportswriting. He lives near Chicago. Wayne Stewart has covered the sports world as a writer for more than thirty years, interviewing and profiling stars such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, and Ken Griffey, Jr. In addition, he has written twenty-four baseball books and appeared on Cleveland's Fox 8 and on ESPN Classic as a baseball historian. He lives in Lorain, Ohio.

The past 25 years have been the most dynamic in the history of Major League Baseball, from the league's recovery after the players' strike to the growth of analytics and the rise of new World Series contenders. In The Reshaping of America's Game: Major League Baseball after the Players' Strike, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte reflects on the factors and challenges that have changed major league baseball since the 1994-1995 players' strike. He examines the consolidation of power in the Commissioner's Office, the influx of Latin and Asian players, the boom in new stadiums, the influence of analytics in reshaping how rosters are constructed, the relationship between managers and the front office, and the rise of the power-game between pitchers and batters that has led to unprecedented strikeout and home run totals. While Major League Baseball continues to develop and grow, the league has had to grapple with repeated steroids scandals, the struggle of small-market teams to remain competitive, and the "forever" unfinished business between players and owners over free agency and fair compensation. The Reshaping of America's Game provides a detailed and intriguing review of the many issues affecting the national pastime during the liveliest years in MLB history. The Reshaping of America's Game, together with Soderholm-Difatte's America's Game, Tumultuous Times in America's Game, and America's Game in the Wild-Card Era, form the author's complete, definitive history of Major League Baseball.

The 1960s were a heady time to come of age. The British Invasion transformed pop music and culture. The fledgling space program offered a thrilling display of modern technology. The civil rights movement and Vietnam War drew young people to American politics, spurring them to think more critically about the state of the nation. And the assassinations Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 shook the United States to the core. During these turbulent times the Minnesota Twins were the pride of the North Star State-an elite team that advanced to the World Series in 1965 and played in dramatic pennant races in the years thereafter. After an uneven 1964 season the Twins set themselves up for a turnaround that would last the rest of the decade. At the end of his playing career with the Twins, Billy Martin was hired as third base coach in 1965, giving them a more aggressive base-running style. Mudcat Grant became the first African American pitcher to win at least twenty games in the American League, and Tony Oliva won his second batting title to help lead the Twins to the World Series, which they lost in seven games to the Dodgers. In 1967 rookie Rod Carew joined the Twins as they engaged in a historic pennant race but finished second to the Red Sox during their "Impossible Dream" season. In 1969 Martin took over as manager, and both Carew and Harmon Killebrew led the Twins to the American League Championship Series, only to lose to the Orioles, after which Martin was fired in part for a now-legendary bar fight. Bill Rigney took the helm in 1970 and steered the Twins to a second-straight division title and ALCS loss to the Orioles. In The Pride of Minnesota Thom Henninger details these pennant races, from the key moments and games to the personalities of the players involved, in the context of state and world events. Although the Twins won only one AL pennant in this stretch and failed to win the World Series, these memorable seasons, played in remarkable and compelling times, made for an important first decade in the team's early history.

In 1965 George Gmelch signed a contract to play professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers organization. Gmelch grew up sheltered in an all-white, affluent San Francisco suburb, and he knew little of the world outside. Over the next four seasons, he came of age in baseball's Minor Leagues through experiences ranging from learning the craft of the professional game to becoming conscious of race and class for the first time. Playing with Tigers is not a typical baseball memoir. Now a well-known anthropologist, Gmelch recounts a baseball education unlike any other as he got to know small-town life across the United States against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, civil rights protests, and the emergence of counterculture. The social and political turmoil of the times spilled into baseball, and Gmelch experienced the consequences firsthand as he played out his career in the Jim Crow South. Playing with Tigers immerses the reader in the life of the Minor Leagues, capturing the gritty, insular, and humorous life and culture of Minor League baseball during a period when both the author and the country were undergoing profound changes.