This volume examines early black baseball as it was represented in the artwork and written accounts of the popular press. From contemporary postbellum articles, illustrations, photographs and woodcuts, a unique image of the black athlete emerges, one that was not always positive but was nonetheless central in understanding the evolving black image in American culture. Chapters of this title cover press depictions of championship games, specific teams and athletes, and the fans and culture surrounding black baseball.

Baseball at its best is a combination of chess match and gladiatorial combat, waged over a long season but turning on split-second decisions and physical instincts. The 1916 season encompassed the drama that made the sport the national pastime: tight pennant races, multiple contenders, record-breaking performances, and controversy, both on and off the field. Nine of the 14 teams battled for first place, four pitchers started and won both games of a doubleheader, Babe Ruth pitched on Opening Day, and players from the Federal League became the sport's first free agents. This book features full rosters, player biographies, statistics, photographs and an appendix of the sportswriters who chronicled the season.

From 1921 through 1930, the young George E. Outland, who would go on to be a professor and United States Congressman, documented his love for baseball by arriving early at major league and Pacific Coast League ballgames armed with his camera and an album of his own photographs. He used his photographs to gain access to some of the greatest players and ballparks of his era, and his subjects included such legends as Walter Johnson, Paul Waner, Sam Crawford, Babe Ruth, and many more.

Collected here are more than 400 of Outland's photographs from the twenties, along with the stories of the ballplayers and ballparks depicted. The book also summarizes Outland's homerun log, a record of the 1,503 homers that he witnessed at 66 different ballparks from 1922 to 1974.

Though baseball would eventually come to embody the American spirit, in the nineteenth century onlookers regarded the game with some ambivalence. To capture the hearts of the public, baseball needed teams worth watching - and no team was a better ambassador for baseball in the 19th century than the New York Giants.The pre - John McGraw Giants were occasionally very good and frequently very fashionable, but they had not yet become the trademark team of the National League that they would become in the early 20th century. The Giants were, however, one of the league's premier teams simply because they played in the country's premier city. New York and its Giants epitomized the rise of industrialized America and the need for organized spectator diversions. Together, the city and the team helped propel baseball into its position as the national pastime.

When the 1949-1953 New York Yankees won an astounding five consecutive World Series, they did it without the offensive firepower that characterized so many of their championship teams before and after. The franchise came to rely instead on three aging pitchers, an unlikely trio that won 255 games during the five-year championship run.This book focuses on the close relationship and quiet achievement of Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Eddie Lopat. Soon after Robinson and the cross-town Dodgers had publicly confronted the issues of race and ethnicity, these men from very different backgrounds - Creek Indian, Italian and Polish - established a deep communion with each other, became lifelong friends, and over a handful of years re-wrote baseball history.This entry refers to the Large Print edition.

During his playing career, a baseball player's every action on the field is documented--every at bat, every hit, every pitch. But what becomes of a player after he leaves the game? Some do, in fact, continue to be involved with baseball in some capacity, but many do not, following a different calling and fade into obscurity. This exhaustive reference work presents information that has never before been available in one source. It briefly details the post-baseball lives of some 7,600 major leaguers, owners, managers, administrators, umpires, sportswriters, announcers and broadcasters who are now deceased. Each entry tells the date and place of the player's birth, the number of seasons he spent in the majors, the primary position he played, the number of seasons he spent as a manager in the majors (if applicable), his post-baseball career and activities, date and cause of his death, and his final resting place.

Though his Hall of Fame baseball career featured a curve ball nicknamed "Old Sal," Joseph McGinnity was as tough as the metal he worked in his off-season foundry job. This biography traces the hard life and colorful career of Iron Man McGinnity from his childhood working the coalfields of Illinois to his death in 1929. McGinnity may have been the most durable hurler in the history of the sport, often pitching both games of a doubleheader. He averaged more wins per season in his 10-year major league career than any pitcher in history, then continued to pitch for decades after that in the minor leagues, retiring at 54.

This history of America's pastime describes the evolution of baseball from early bat and ball games to its growth and acceptance in different regions of the country. The New York clubs (i.e., the Atlantics, Excelsiors and Mutuals) are a primary focus, serving as examples of how the sport became more sophisticated and popular. The author compares theories about many of baseball's "inventors," exploring the often fascinating stories of several of baseball's oldest founding myths. The impact of the Civil War on the sport is discussed and baseball's unsteady path to becoming America's national game is analyzed at length.

Ty Cobb, Nap Lajoie, and Honus Wagner were among the greatest hitters who ever played major league baseball, but how do they stack up against players of other eras and each other? This book employs a statistical analysis of 'production per at-bat' to compare 120 top batters by position over a 19-year period when contact, speed and hit-and-run strategy were more valuable than power and home runs. Included in this title are an analysis of each player's strengths and weaknesses, rankings of the most talented and the most valuable producers, and the selection of an All-Star team for the era. It includes a foreword by the Society for American Baseball Research librarian, Leonard Levin.

With a line-up that included future Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose, the "Big Red Machine" powered its way to six division titles, four pennants, and two World Series, all in the 1970s. Three other times in that decade they finished second in their division to the eventual pennant winner.

While much has been written about the players and manager Sparky Anderson, no book until now has given adequate attention to the man behind the Machine, general manager Bob Howsam. From his hire in 1967 through the end of his first stint with the Reds in 1978, Howsam brought about a remarkable change in fortune for the Reds, who had claimed only one pennant in the 26 years before his arrival. This detailed history of baseball's last dynasty shows not only how the team performed but why, delving into the off-field strategy and moves behind the Reds' success.

The Second World War was in the bottom of the ninth inning in Germany and Japan, but back at home the bases were loaded with baseball players, many of them new to the big leagues. While the game's stars traded their stockings and gloves for khaki and rifles, America's leaders believed baseball would boost morale at home.

Teams filled out their rosters with retired stars such as Jimmie Foxx and Babe Herman; with players like Pete Gray and Dick Sipek, whose disabilities had kept them out of the majors; and with teenagers like 17-year-olds Putsy Caballero and Tommy Brown. But while the level of major league talent had reached its nadir, war-weary fans packed the ballparks, eagerly following pennant races as intense as any that preceded the war.

The trading, buying and selling of players has always had a key role in building better baseball teams, and few things stir the interest and passion of fans so much as a blockbuster trade. The New York Yankees made their first trade on June 10, 1903, dealing Herman Long, a veteran shortstop, and Ernie Courtney, a second-year infielder, to the Detroit Tigers for disgruntled shortstop Kid Elberfeld. Seventeen years later, the Yankees made the most infamous transaction in sports history, purchasing former pitching great and now outfielder Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for a reported $125,000.This work exhaustively chronicles the Ruth purchase as well as the more than 600 additional transactions made by the Yankees. The author sets both the players and the deal in historical perspective, explaining why the Yanks and the other club involved made the deal, what expectations the owners, general managers and managers of the respective teams had for their new players, and, for some, what the players involved thought about their old and new teams. This book corrects many errors in trade dates listed in the encyclopedias and trade registers.

Though Willie Mays' World Series basket catch and Duke Snider's 1954 wall-climbing grab immediately come to mind, there are many catches that have been called 'the greatest'. This work documents baseball's best catches by outfielders from 1897 (the year of earliest catch described in a 1950 Baseball Digest attempt to describe baseball's greatest) to 1964 (the year of Duke Snider's retirement, the demolition of the Polo Grounds, and, arguably, Willy Mays' last great grab). After introductory chapters on factors that influenced the catches and their legacies - from ballpark quirks, changes to the baseball, and gloves, to sportswriters and photography - the book describes famous catches by decade. Extensive research yields a wealth of information for each catch, including commentary by period sportswriters, players, and, often, the man who snagged the ball.

During his remarkable 17-year career (1900-1916), Christy Mathewson was the dominant pitcher in the National league. His 373 wins stand as the third highest total in baseball history. Mathewson was a gentleman, a rarity in the raucous world of baseball at the turn of the century, and a favorite among fans. Game by game, the remarkable career of this Hall of Fame hurler is analyzed. Interwoven are tales of his personal life and the colorful characters who were a part of baseball in the early 1900s--like John McGraw, Joe McGinnity, Rube Marquard, Bugs Raymond. Appendices give records and milestones. Includes illustrations, notes, bibliography and index.

Heading into their ninth season, the expansion Washington Senators had never won more than 76 games in a season. The team even seemed to be backsliding, as the 1968 season brought 31 more losses than wins. Desperate to try something new, Senators owner Bob Short hired Hall of Famer Ted Williams to manage the team. Williams sparked the Senators to the best record for a Washington team since the old Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) had won 87 games in 1945. ""The Splendid Splinter"" oversaw dramatic improvements in both offense and pitching, with Dick Bosman even leading the league in ERA.The Senators' last winning season, 1969 was an unlikely high point in an otherwise lackluster 11 - year stay in the capital. Prior to that season, they'd been a perennial cellar dweller, and after 1969 the team would experience steep declines in attendance and wins, leading to an acrimonious departure to Texas. This book recounts that 1969 season in-depth.

Painstakingly researched and documented, this volume is a comprehensive, year-by-year reference work giving important--yet often obscure--dates in Negro League history. From the Negro Leagues' organized beginning in 1920 through their steep decline immediately after Jackie Robinson's 1947 breaking of the color barrier, entries cover league meetings, noteworthy games, the commentary of columnists, and important events on and off the field. Controversies that defined the experience of black baseball organizers--such as player rights disputes, failure to adhere to league schedules and violations of league rules--are also included here.

They emerged from the mines, shook off the coal dust, and stepped onto the diamond. From the early 1900s to the 1950s, baseball games between mine workers were a small-town phenomenon, each team attracting avid and intensely loyal fans. Talented part-time athletes competed at the amateur, semi-pro and professional levels. Equally competitive were the coal company officials, who often brought in ringers, or players of exceptional ability, giving them easier jobs above ground or a padded pay packet. Based on interviews with surviving players, families of deceased players, and contemporary sources, this thoroughgoing history covers not only teams and leagues but their function within the mining communities of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia. The book features a special section on African-American mining teams, a coalfield map and many photographs.

Even though teenaged girl Jackie Mitchell once struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, women are still striking out on the hardball diamond. This book builds on recently published histories of women as amateur and professional players, umpires, sports commentators and fans to analyze the cultural and historical contexts for excluding females from America's past time. Drawing on anthropological and feminist perspectives, the book examines the ways that constructions of women's bodies and normative social roles have pushed them toward softball instead of baseball. Sportswriter accounts, ""Title IX"" sex-discrimination suits, and interviews with players explore the obstacles and the social isolation of females who join all-male baseball teams, while also discussing policies that inhibit the practice.

I n 1945 the most famous curse in sports was placed on the Chicago Cubs when Bill Sianis and his goat were ejected from Wrigley Field. Though Sianis purchased two tickets for the fourth game of the World Series against Detroit, the goat's stench led to the pair's ouster. The indignant Sianis allegedly cursed the Cubs, promising that they'd never again play in the World Series at Wrigley Field.

More than six decades later, the team has yet to win a pennant. There were years when fortune seemed to pluck defeat from the wings of sure victory. The book focuses on the attitudes of players and fans, as well as attempts to exorcise the curse. It features photographs and interviews of former Cub players, as well as a foreword by Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks.

The 1930 baseball season was unlike any other. Big league rosters included more Hall of Famers than at any time before or since. "The year of the batter" saw an extraordinary number of records set for runs, hits, home runs and RBIs. Nine of the 16 teams hit over .300 and so did 60 percent of the regular players. Seven pairs of teammates hit .350 or better and 20 batters had over 200 hits. Hack Wilson had a record 191 RBIs and five others topped 150; both leagues' batting races came down to the last game of the season. The pennant races provided great drama as well. In the National League, the Cardinals overcame a fourth place 12-game deficit in the final weeks of the season to win a four team, down-to-the-wire race. In the American League, underdog Washington battled injuries, misfortune and tragedy to challenge the heavily-favored Athletics. For the first time, this remarkable season is covered in full, from spring training to the final out of the World Series.

The era of free agency in Major League Baseball ensured that it would be difficult to keep star teams together year after year. The 1976 Cincinnati Reds were one of the last to be considered a "dynasty," and this book documents the season of one of the greatest teams in baseball history. During the pursuit of a second-straight world championship in 1976, the "Big Red Machine" was fueled by all-time hits leader Pete Rose, slugger George Foster, and all-stars Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan, as well as a balanced pitching staff that had seven players notching double-digit win totals. The 102-win regular season ended with World Series sweep of the New York Yankees.

This annotated bibliography covers approximately 400 novels published between 1838 and 2007. Following a substantial introduction to the history and development of the genre, the main text provides chronologically arranged entries on hundreds of novels written for the adult and young adult reader, with bibliographic details and extensive annotations on plot, themes, and compositional strengths and weaknesses. Included are so-called mainstream novels by writers such as Hemingway, Wolfe, Roth, and DeLillo, whose extensive use of baseball memorably demonstrates the game's cultural pervasiveness.Appendices provide historical overviews for the primary baseball subgenres, including mystery, fantasy, and science-fiction; lists for novels that foreground issues of race or ethnicity (or both, as in Winegardner's ""Vera Cruz Blues""), gender (Gilbert's ""A League of Their Own""), and class (Hays' ""The Dixie Association""); and the author's rankings of great baseball novels overall and by subgenre.

Jack Coombs rose to deadball-era stardom as the ace of Connie Mack's Athletics, winners of back-to-back world championships in 1910 and 1911. One of few players of his day to have graduated from college, Coombs debuted for the Athletics in 1906, fresh from Colby College, and found success early. Within a few years, he was one of the best and best-known pitchers in baseball, leading the majors in victories.

But then in 1913 Coombs contracted typhoid fever, a disease that cost the right-hander two seasons at the peak of his career. And while he battled his way back to baseball, pitching well in his comeback season of 1915 and then leading the Brooklyn Robins to the World Series in 1916, Coombs was never again the dominant pitcher he had been. Coombs went on to a long and successful career as a college coach for Duke University, and he would write one of the most highly regarded instructional books on baseball ever published.

Written for coaches, this work presents more than 180 baseball games and activities for young children and adolescents, focusing on teaching, improvement of skills and enjoyment. Games emphasizing baserunning, bunting, catching, fielding, hitting, throwing and pitching are covered. Each section reviews fundamentals, introduces creative skills and drills for group practice, and details the age group, objective, equipment and rules for each activity.