The last time the Chicago Cubs played in the World Series, World War II had just ended. The last time they won a World Series, World War I had not yet begun. But from 1906-1910 the Cubs not only played in the World Series four of the five years, they won two World Championships, as well. It was a time when the Cubs ruled baseball, and no one could have imagined the roller coaster adventures that were ahead for this grand old franchise. In The Last Chicago Cubs Dynasty: Before the Curse, Hal Bock tells the story of this legendary team, the characters who were central to its success, and the misfortunes which have plagued the team ever since. Stars such as pitcher Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown and the double-play combination of Tinker to Evers to Chance are profiled, as are opponents who caused the Cubs unending headaches, like superstar pitcher Christy Mathewson and immortal shortstop Honus Wagner. A chronology and cast of characters set the stage for the reader before Bock delves into the early history of the Cubs and the assembly of what would become a dynasty. With talent to spare and just a little bit of luck going their way, the Chicago Cubs were unstoppable. But when an angry fan issued a curse on the team during the 1945 World Series, some believe it marked the beginning of the end for this storied franchise. Featuring 100-year-old images from historic baseball cards, profiles of Hall of Fame legends, and a foreword by Cubs supporter and TV star Joe Mantegna, The Last Chicago Cubs Dynasty will appeal to all baseball fans, but especially to those always-passionate Cubs enthusiasts from around the nation.

In September of 1998, Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr., sat out a game, voluntarily ending his remarkable streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. Between the years of 1925 and 1939, New York Yankee Lou Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games, a record which many fans thought would never be broken. Since the beginning of major league baseball, 124 players - Ripken and Gehrig among them - have held the title of Iron Man, a designation reserved for the active player with the most consecutive games played. This reference book contains an historical and statistical review of each player who has held the title of Iron Man. From Paul Hines (1876) to Miguel Tejada (2004), the players are arranged chronologically with information addressing the beginning and ending date of each streak as well as basic biographical details. Statistics include games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, home runs, runs batted in, strikeouts and batting average. Appendices provide a chronological listing and season-by-season review of major league Iron Men; longest consecutive playing streaks (500 or more games) with their dates and progression; miscellaneous consecutive games played records; and a season-by-season review of players' perfect attendance.

Baseball is a readily quantifiable sport, and baseball historians, journalists and front office personnel often use sabermetric statistics to rank the perforemance of a particular player or team. To many, these statistics can be intimidating and unwieldy, and the reliance on numerical data to explain a cherished pastime often meets with skepticism and confusion. For researchers and for serious fans, however, the truth is in the numbers, and statistical rankings offer an easy and accurate way to understand the game. Covering a decade and a half, this work scrutinizes statistics from both leagues and proves just how useful and straightforward numerical rankings can be. It examines pitching, offense, defense, managers, acquisitions, and longevity and competition based on the information reflected in various stats. Many of these figures are explained, simplifying seemingly complex metrics while illuminating 15 years of baseball. Twenty-six appendices cover topics ranging from fielding averages, starting pitchers' won-loss records and leading closers' saves versus blown saves to total team offensive efficiency, quarterly standings in divisional races and composition of major leagues rosters by methods of player acquisition, among many other diverse categories.

Though very few teams can accurately be called dynasties, the 1940s Cardinals certainly made a strong case. Detractors argue that World War II made the 40s an asterisk decade, with a huge loss of talent and significant changes to the ball and to the game itself. During that era, though, the Cardinals dominated the National League, winning four pennants and three World Series titles, and their rosters included names like Musial and Slaughter. This is the history of the Cardinals during the 1940s, a decade that saw many of the greatest St. Louis clubs while war and integration significantly altered the game. Chapters follow the Cards year-by-year, covering each season with description, statistics and analysis. Interwoven throughout are the stories of wartime changes, including the loss of players like Branch Rickey; the death of Judge Landis; the Pacific Coast League's demand for major league status; the first attempt at a players' union; Mexican League talent raids; and the Cardinals' early attempts to thwart integration. An appendix offers complete individual hitting and pitching statistics.

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.

In 1953, August A. Busch purchased the St. Louis Cardinals for nearly four million dollars. His dream included not only the best players money could buy but a brand new Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. The early sixties found Busch working on both, and by May 1966, when the new Busch Stadium was opened, the St. Louis Cardinals were on the cusp of greatness. A world championship would follow in 1967, and in 1968 the Cardinals battled the Tigers in a classic seven-game series, narrowly losing their bid for back-to-back titles. This volume looks back at the outstanding Cardinal teams of the 1967 and 1968 seasons. Beginning with the ownership shift in the early 1950s, it examines the events leading up to the opening of the new stadium and tracks the various player trades, policy changes and inside dealings of baseball that produced one of the era's great teams. The effects of Branch Rickey's farm system on both the franchise's success and the sport of baseball are discussed, as are the rumblings of labor trouble that would directly involve one of the Cardinals' own. An appendix contains detailed statistics from the 1967 and 1968 seasons. An index and period photographs are also included.

This work starts with the formation of the first baseball club in America, the Olympic Town Ball Club, and concludes with the final year of the National League's monopoly. Also included are: the early Philadelphia club teams, including the first great African-American team, the Pythians; Philadelphia's part in the National Association of Base Ball Players; and the golden days of the national champion Philadelphia Athletic Club from 1860 through the National Association years.

Unbeknownst to many, the Mariners were not Seattle's first Major League Baseball Team. In 1937, Seattle businessman Emil Sick bought the city's failing Pacific Coast League team, the Indians, renamed them the Rainiers and constructed a new, state-of-the-art stadium. Over the next few decades, at least two teams - the Kansas City A's and the Cleveland Indians - would consider relocating to Seattle, and both PCL president Dewey Soriano and Cleveland Indians owner William Daly lobbied to bring a Major League team to the booming city. Their efforts paid off in 1967, when despite shrinking Rainiers attendance figures, Seattle was awarded the second of two American League expansion teams. For one season - 1969 - Sick's Stadium became the home of the Seattle Pilots. From the first days of the franchise through their final move, this book tells the story of the twentieth century's only big league team to last a single season. After a concise discussion of Seattle's amateur and minor-league history, the main text provides a detailed account of the efforts to bring major league baseball to town, the first team draft, the 1969 spring training and regular season, attempt to save the team, and finally the move to Milwaukee. Brief interviews with fourteen players round out the text. Tables including a team roster, final league standings, wins and losses and player stats are also provided.

*Finalist for the 2007 Seymour Medal of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).*

*Winner of the 2007 Robert Peterson Book Award of the Negro Leagues Committee of the Society for American Baseball*

When to Stop the Cheering? documents the close and often conflicted relationship between the black press and black baseball beginning with the first Negro professional league of substance, the Negro National League, which started in 1920, and finishing with the dissolution of the Negro American League in 1957. When to Stop the Cheering? examines the multidimensional relationship the black newspapers had with baseball, including their treatment of and relationships with baseball officials, team owners, players and fans. Over time, these relationships changed, resulting in shifts in coverage that could be described as moving from brotherhood to paternalism, then from paternalism to nostalgic tribute and even regret.

In 1946, American baseball was a shadow of its former self. The country had come through a devastating depression and then a world war. Attendance had spiralled down, stars had gone off to war and come home, and management was at odds with players. Though organized baseball had set about recovering its former strength and popularity, the stage was set for recruiters to steal away dissatisfied players. That's just what the five Pasquel brothers from Mexico did. Armed with promises of wealth and stardom, the Pasquels recruited 23 players away from American teams. For most of them, it was the beginning of the end of their careers. Mexican baseball wasn't the picture the Pasquels painted and the players were not given a cheerful welcome home. This book tells the story of the 1946 exodus to Mexican baseball, setting the stage with chapters on change and war in the U.S., player-management issues that clouded baseball's recovery, and a history of the Mexican ""outlaw"" league. It describes the Pasquels' move on organized baseball, including details of those who did not take the offer to play for them. The author reveals what life was like for defectors who played in substandard ballparks, suffered from gastric disturbances and were targets of retribution from home. Chapters then delve into the stories of 23 players who took their bats and gloves south of the border in 1946. The author unravels lawsuits that followed the players' five-year ban from American baseball, and concludes with the career outcomes for players after they returned home.

As scholarly interest in baseball has increased in recent years, so too has the use of baseball both as subject and as teaching method in college courses. In addition to lecturing on baseball history, professors are more frequently using baseball as a pedagogical tool to teach other disciplines. Baseball's interdisciplinary appeal is evident in the myriad ways that diverse college faculty have made use of it in the classroom. In this collection of essays, professors from different disciplines explain how they have used baseball in higher education. Organized by academic field, essays offer insight into how baseball can help teach key issues in archival research, business, cultural studies, education, experiential learning, film, American history, labor relations, law, literature, Native American studies, philosophy, public speaking, race studies and social history.

This book - the first in the English language to contain an exhaustive collection of Japanese baseball data - presents basic statistical information and listings for every Japanese professional baseball season from 1936 through 1997. The first part contains yearly breakdowns of team standings; qualifiers for batting and earned run championships; leaders in home runs, runs batted in, wins and strikeouts; all-star game results; Japan Series results; Best Nine selections; Gold Glove selections; and award winners. Sections on career records and single-season records are provided in the second part of this work. Appendices list no-hit, no-run games, Japanese Hall of Famers, and records of foreign tours of Japan by professional teams.

As the Civil War ended, the thoughts of many Northern soldiers turned to a game that some had learned about for the first time during the war - baseball. Their new-found interest in the sport, combined with the postwar economic boom and the resultant growth of many cities, took the game from one practiced by a few amateur clubs in New York City before the war to a professional sport covering almost the entire north-eastern United States. Researched from primary sources, the game of the late 1860s is described season-by-season: the fields, the crowds, the strategy, the rules, the style of play, and the confusing struggles to crown a national champion, with all the chicanery and machinations of the contenders. Such landmark events as the Washington Nationals' pioneering 1867 tour and the Cincinnati Red Stockings' undefeated 1869 season are covered.

West Virginia sprang into existence as a state in the midst of the Civil War, and ""base ball,"" as it was called then, was close on the heels of statehood. A game in 1866 hosted by the Hunkidori Base Ball Club in Wheeling, then the state capital, is considered the first ""match game of Base Ball."" Some historians contend the game spread via the movement of soldiers who were from urban areas. The real roots of baseball are not the romantic image of rural boys in sandlots or lazy father-son afternoons (just as West Virginia is not the backward, poverty-stricken state that stereotypes paint, the author notes). It was born and came of age as an urban sport, a social pursuit of well-heeled young men that in the early days often involved banquets and shows following each game. In this book the author traces the history of minor league and independent league baseball in West Virginia. Baseball below the minor leagues has a rich and comparatively unexplored history, this author asserts, and West Virginia has made substantial contributions to this legacy. Chapters examine the chronological history of baseball and the larger economic and cultural changes that have influenced it since end of the Civil War. Eras include baseball as a social game (through 1873); the emergence of professional baseball (through 1895); its second boom (through 1905); the deadball era (through 1920); the Martinsburg dynasty (1914 to 1934); as a miners' sport (1920 to 1941); the Middle Atlantic League (1925-1942); the Mountain State League (1937-1942); the post-war years (1945-1955); the nadir (1955-1985) and finally, a chapter titled ""A Minor Miracle"" (1985-2000) that heralds a comeback in the popularity of professional baseball.

Baseball fans who know the history of the game inside and out will find a wealth of intrigue in this book-not more history, but alternative history. What if Ty Cobb and Shoeless Joe Jackson had stood side by side in Cleveland's outfield? What if integration had taken place in the major leagues before 1947? Who would have won the World Series had strikes not shortened the 1994 season? A panel of experts was called upon to use their knowledge and imagination to write ""what could have been"" in the history of baseball. Newcomers to the topic of baseball history will also find the book captivating; these fictional accounts are set against the backdrop of actual occurrences. The history of baseball from 1869 to the controversial 2003 playoffs is literally rewritten in this compilation of fantasy scenarios. Fifty journalists, historians, authors and former baseball players were given free rein to second guess decisions and make predictions about baseball history as it could have been. Chapters explore this fantasy history of baseball by eras, such as the beginning of the game as a professional sport, the deadball era, war years, growth years, the modern game and its most recent decades. The author begins by introducing each panelist and concludes with an appendix that asks them to speculate on general questions, such as: Who might have entered the Hall of Fame, had they not experienced injuries or other roadblocks? A foreword is by Pete Palmer, journalist, author, and inventor of on-base plus slugging, now universally used as a good measure of batting strength.

It's often said that catcher is the most important, most demanding defensive position in baseball. This view explains why so many light-hitting catchers have enjoyed long?and by all accounts successful?major league careers. Yet arguments over the all-time greats invariably privilege offensive standouts, and even among these players batting statistics are more likely than fielding numbers to affect ranking. So what, historically, have been the expectations for major league catchers, and who stands as the greatest in a more balanced view of offensive and defensive contributions? In Part I of this book, the history of catching and catchers is discussed in detail, with attention to the most celebrated players of each era. In Part II, the author employs sabermetric formulas to rank the 50 greatest catchers since 1920, when changes to the rules, the parks, and the ball dramatically changed the way baseball was played. Also included is a chapter on catchers of the 19th century, deadball era, and Negro Leagues, whose career statistics are either incomplete, inaccurate, or produced under markedly different playing conditions and rules.

As early as the 1880s, baseball owners and sportswriters were decrying the greediness of players as the leading threat to the national pastime. Nearly a century later in 1976, the Player's Association was able to finally tear down baseball's permanent reserve clause?the contract language that essentially bound a player to a single team until he was released or traded?and owners and sportswriters again insisted that the competitive balance of the game was threatened by player greed. The rhetoric from the baseball establishment did not match the on-field reality. From 1981 to 1993, the first significant era of free agency in the sport's history, all 12 of the National League's teams finished first at least once, as did 11 American League teams. From 1994 through 2001, however, there was a pronounced separation in strength between the haves and have-nots, as the local revenue streams of major markets such as New York and Boston overwhelmed the capabilities of small market franchises in such cities as Tampa, Montreal, and Milwaukee. This work examines how the sport has prospered and suffered during the free agency era, based in large part on how the game's various revenue streams are allocated. It further examines the revenue sharing plan in baseball's current collective bargaining agreement, identifying flaws that may well undermine its long-term effectiveness. It also explores how the baseball expertise of some organizations has allowed them to flourish despite the lack of revenue.

Is it bedtime for America's pastime? In recent years, action on and off the diamond has left some fans predicting baseball's imminent death - or claiming to have already attended the funeral. This book refutes those claims with an in-depth look at baseball then and now. Comparing the baseball of the 1950s to the game of today, this author examines the widespread dissatisfaction with major league baseball, considers how modern teams differ from those of the past, and reflects on whether professional baseball remains a truly competitive sport. Excessive salaries, player movement and the evolution of the draft are all up for discussion, as is the Wild Card playoff format and how it has affected the overall competition. Tables show statistics on salaries, league attendance and the correlation between winning percentages and payroll. Appendices offer details on market size and attendance regressions. The facts and figures add up to a win for the long-lasting appeal of baseball.

On September 10, 1934, grizzled reliever Burleigh Grimes helped the Pittsburgh Pirates to an inconsequential 9-7 win over the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds. For Grimes, the September contest marked his 270th and final win. For baseball, it marked the last time a legal spitballer would win a major league contest. Though the pitch had been banned in 1920, the American and National leagues both agreed to grant two exemptions per team to spitballers who were already in the majors. In 1921, both leagues agreed to extend grandfather provisions to cover the veteran spitball pitchers for the remainder of their careers. Under the extended rule, 17 pitchers were granted exemptions for their careers. This work looks at the lives and careers of these 17: Red Faber, Burleigh Grimes, Jack Quinn, Urban Shocker, Stan Coveleskie, Bill Doak, Ray Caldwell, Clarence Mitchell, Dutch Leonard, Ray Fisher, Dick Rudolph, Allen Sothoron, Phil Douglas, Allan Russell, Doc Ayers, Dana Fillingim and Marvin Goodwin.

As a player, manager, team captain, umpire, owner and league president, Jim O'Rourke (1851-1918) spoke for the players in the emerging game of baseball. O'Rourke's career paralleled the rise of the game from a regional sport with few strategies to the national pastime. Nicknamed ""Orator"" for his booming voice and his championing of the rights of professional athletes, he was a driving force in making the sport a profession, bringing respectability to the role of professional baseball player. From contemporary sources, O'Rourke's own correspondence, and player files available through the National Baseball Library, a rounded portrait of Jim O'Rourke emerges. Quick to speak his mind, the outfielder played on nine pennant-winning teams, but his playing career was overshadowed by his work in organizing baseball's first union. After his playing days ended, O'Rourke attempted to establish the Connecticut League, becoming the circuit's president, secretary, and treasury. Though the league failed to fully materialize, his Bridgeport Victors did play several games and were one of the few racially integrated teams - a fact emblematic of O'Rourke's efforts to change the national pastime. In those efforts, he attempted to wrest control of the game from the owners and empower the players. This work provides a behind-the-scenes look at the growth of the national pastime from the Civil War through the deadball era.

When in 1911 Phillies pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander set the National League record for wins by a rookie (28), it was a sign of things to come. Alexander went on to win 373 games over his 20?year career, the third highest total in major league history, and he would lead the league in ERA four times, shutouts seven times, complete games six times, and wins six times. But he also became a deeply troubled man. After the Shell-Shocked pitcher returned from World War I, he would battle alcoholism, epilepsy, and personal demons that damaged his reputation and proved disastrous for his life outside of baseball. This biography sheds new light on the pitcher and the man, focusing on Alexander's personal life, especially his complex relationship with his wife, Aimee, as well as their marriages and divorces. His Hall of Fame career, wartime service, and long decline are also documented.

The players of the independent Carolina League were outlaws. A diverse lot that included preachers and ex-cons, with many former and future Major Leaguers, they played ball during the desperate years of the Great Depression, when half of organized professional baseball's minor leagues went broke and ceased operations. Despite the number of defaulting leagues and teams, the players were held to their prior contracts, and many found themselves unemployed, unable to play without violating the reserve clause that bound them to their previous club. The threat of being blackballed by organized baseball notwithstanding, hundreds of players went to bat for the independent Carolina League, and their stories offer unique glimpses into the pastime's - and America's - most difficult years. This follow-up to the immensely popular and award-winning ""The Independent Carolina Baseball League, 1936-1938"" (McFarland, 1999) takes the story of outlaw baseball into extra innings, offering a wealth of previously unpublished interviews with the key players and personnel associated with the league. With outstanding coverage of nearly 20 players, including the notorious Edwin Collins ""Alabama"" Pitts and well-known Lawrence Columbus ""Crash"" Davis, this book also offers the unique perspectives of umpires, journalists and players' wives. Appendices include a Pitts family history, the Kannapolis Towelers team record book, player records, and the history of the Carolina Victory League.

In the view of contemporary players and sportswriters, Chicago Cub Johnny Kling was one of the greatest catchers of all time. A strong batter, Kling was even better behind the plate, where his strong arm, quick reactions, and even his chatter harried the opposition. He was by all accounts an indispensable part of Cubs teams that won four National League pennants and two World Series titles between 1906 and 1910. Yet today he is remembered by historians as a player at the center of two unresolved questions: was Johnny Kling's absence from baseball in 1909 - during the prime of his career - the result of a salary holdout? And was he Jewish? This heavily researched biography ends the debate over those questions while restoring Kling to his place among the greats at his position. It covers in detail his exploits on and off the field (which included a world billiards championship in 1908) and his life after his playing career ended, when he became a philanthropist and gentleman farmer.

Though baseball came to embody the American spirit in the mid-20th century, it was not always that way. As America emerged from the Civil War, its citizens watched the relatively new sport of baseball with ambivalence. There were a few on-field changes from 1870 to 1900, but overall the game then was remarkably similar to the game today. Labor disputes often dominated discussions of the game, and owners and players each accused the other of being greedy and trying to destroy the sport. No team better exemplified 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; they helped propel baseball into being the national pastime.

During the second half of the twentieth century, Major League Baseball and its affiliated minor leagues evolved from local and regional entities governing the play America's favorite pastime to national business organizations. The relocation of teams, league expansion, the advent of free agency and an influx of international players has made baseball big business, on an increasingly global scale. Focusing on the last fifty years, this work examines the past and present commercial elements of organized baseball, emphasizing the dual roles - competitive sport and profitable business - which the sport must now fulfill. Twenty-five essays cover five areas integral to the economic side of baseball: business and finance, human resources, international relations, management and leadership and sports marketing. Detailed discussions of the redistribution of revenues, the history of player unionization, aggressive global marketing, strategies of franchise owners and an evaluation of fan costs, among other topics introduce the reader to the important issues and specific challenges professional baseball faces in an increasingly crowded - yet geographically expansive - sports marketplace. The work is also indexed.