Hundreds of major leaguers - including the Hall of Fame's Hank Greenburg, Johnny Mize, Rod Carew, Carl Yastrzemski and Joe Morgan - got their starts in North Carolina, where baseball has been a fixture in the state for nearly 100 years - in Charlotte and Durham (whose Bulls were in the 1988 film ""Bull Durham"") as well as Red Springs and Snow Hill. Following an historical statewide overview, year by year summaries and histories are provided in this work for each of the 72 towns, from Albemarle to Zebulon. Notable players and club records are listed for each year, and the causes for the rise and fall of baseball in the different towns are discussed. Biographies of 20 prominent minor leaguers are included, as is an appendix of nearly 2,000 major leaguers who played for a North Carolina team. The state's Negro League and textile league histories are also related in it.

For major league baseball, the decade following Jackie Robinson's 1947 debut was one of slow yet persistent change. Four other black players - Willard Brown, Larry Doby, Hank Thompson, and Dan Bankhead - made their first, brief big-league stays that year, followed by only two in 1948 and four in 1949. But by the end of 1959, 122 black ballplayers had made it. Like Robinson, their lives were made difficult in the locker room and away from the field, and on it they dodged beanballs and spikes. This book brings attention to the accomplishments of this transitional generation of African American players - made up of men like Luscious Luke Easter, Sam ""The Jet"" Jethroe, and Sad Sam Jones - many of whom spent years in the minors, the Negro leagues, or both before getting their shot. Chapters on each season from 1947 to 1959 incorporate biographical and career profiles for 25 players who stood out during baseball's integration. A final chapter covers the outstanding minor league players who for various reasons never got the chance to play major league ball. Appendices include a roster of black major leaguers from 1947 through 1959, a list of black-player firsts, and statistics on the year-by-year population of black players in the majors.

In the mid-1940s, the post-war United States was a prosperous country, and baseball, had its own share of this prosperity. An expanding minor league led to unprecedented competition for young baseball talent. The ill-conceived idea of a signing bonus quickly introduced an element of financial competition into the sport of baseball, much to the discomfort of many minor league teams. Unable to compete with major league teams, the minor leagues pressed for restrictions on the bonuses paid to players. Bonus rules - the first enacted in 1946 and the second implemented in 1953 - attempted unsuccessfully to curb ever-rising bonuses and limit the damage this policy ultimately did to both teams and players. Containing twenty-four interviews, this volume focuses on players signed under the strict bonus rule of 1953-1957, which required that players signed to a bonus of $4,000 or more remain on the big league roster for two full seasons before being sent to the minor leagues. Organized chronologically, these interviews explore the lives and careers of the bonus babies with emphasis on their early big-league experience and its effect on their careers. Players interviewed in this volume include Harmon Killebrew, Reno Bertoia, Tommy Qualters, Jim Pyburn, John DeMerit, Von McDaniel, Don Pavletich, Mel Roach, Steve Boros, Dick Schofield, Jim Derrington, Mike McCormick, Jim Pagliaroni, Paul Giel, Buddy Pritchard, Jerry Walker, Jim Brady, Wayne Causey, Lindy McDaniel, Jim Small, Don Kaiser, Tommy Carroll, Jerry Kindall and Frank Zupo. The appendix provides a complete chronological listing of players signed under the bonus rule of 1953-1957. The work is also indexed.

Are today's major league baseball pitchers better than ever? Or do they pale in comparison to the great hurlers of 20, 30 or 40 years ago? This book tackles a debate that has been traveling baseball circles for the past decade or so. With changes in everything from the size of the playing field to the composition of the ball, it's a tall task to compare pitchers over the 170 year history of the sport in America. This author does a meticulous job. No stone is unturned as he delves into every facet from the ancient roots of the game to bigger size of today's players. The first chapters reach back to the first known ""batting contests"" in Egypt 5,000 years ago and bring readers to a popular 18th century English game called rounders, which evolved into organized baseball in 19th century America. The author then paces through the changes in rules that helped mold baseball into its modern form, and discusses innovators like James 'Jimmy' Creighton and Asa Brainard, early stars like Cy Young and Walter Johnson, and modern day standouts such as Roger Clemens and Kerry Woods. The book explores rule changes, adaptations to pitching and pitching strategies, and the effect of pitcher injuries and conditioning, among other influences. Fourteen former major league players comment on the game. In the final chapter, the author reviews what has happened to major league pitching. An appendix gives stats for major league starting pitchers with comparisons by era, those with more than 5,000 career innings pitched, relief pitchers, and their single season save records. Another table takes a look at the increase in major league home runs from 1919 to 2004.

In the decades before baseball fans became enamored of sluggers like Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, very few players were identified with the long ball. Instead, the game was dominated by men like Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner, players who sprayed the ball around the park, stole bases and mastered the hit and run. In fact, only one player entered the baseball mythology for his slugging: Frank ""Home Run"" Baker. Born in Trappe, Maryland, in 1886, Baker earned his moniker by hitting two game-changing homers in the 1911 World Series. That was the also the first year he led the American League in home runs, with the grand total of 11. Altogether, he led for four consecutive years (1911-1914), though he never hit more than 12 dingers in a single season. Playing third base for the Philadelphia Athletics and the New York Yankees, Baker led the way for the more Ruthian totals to come in the Roaring '20s. His is the story of a young player struggling to make it to the majors, and then nearly throwing it all away in a contract dispute with the legendary Connie Mack. It is the story of the deadball era and the transition to the game we know today.

In the late 19th century, baseball players broke from the established leagues and organized their own Players' League. They believed that this rival organization would make wages subject to market conditions and give players more mastery over their careers and industry. Although the league lasted only one year, it was a significant attempt by skilled workers to break from an established monopoly, gain more control over all aspects of their industry, and reap a larger portion of the revenues that they created. This work explores the early history of professional baseball in the United States, the factors that contributed to the player rebellion of 1890, and the rebellion's impact on the player-owner relationship in the decade that followed. Appendices include a roster of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings (players, positions, and salaries); the First Reserve Agreement, Section 18 of the Standard Player's Contract; and commentary and legal documents pertaining to the Reserve Rule.

Cap Anson's plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame sums up his career with admirable simplicity: ?The greatest hitter and greatest National League player-manager of the 19th century.? Anson helped make baseball the national pastime. He hit over .300 in all but three of his major league seasons, and upon his retirement in 1897, he held the all-time records for games played, times at bat, hits, runs scored, doubles and runs batted in. For much of his career, he also served as manager of the National League's Chicago White Stockings (now known as the Cubs), winning five pennants and finishing in the top half of the league in 15 of his 19 seasons. Anson's career coincided with baseball's rise to prominence. As the sport's first superstar, he was one of the best known and most widely admired men in the United States. He took advantage of his fame, starring in a Broadway play and touring on the vaudeville circuit. He toured England, Europe, Egypt, and Australia, introducing baseball throughout the world. Regrettably, he also vehemently opposed the presence of African Americans in the game and played a significant role in its segregation in the 1880s. From Marshalltown, Iowa, to superstar status, this work traces the life and times of Anson and the growth of the national pastime.

The Washington Senators have a special place in baseball history as one of the most unsuccessful teams ever to play the game. The Nats (as headline writers had dubbed them by midcentury) got their start in 1901 thanks to Byron Bancroft ?Ban? Johnson and endured 71 up-and-down seasons in the American League, which was created at the same time as the Washington ballclub. This huge work exhaustively chronicles the capricious history of the Washington Senators from the beginning to the end in 1971, with detailed information on the management and players who kept the organization going in good and bad times. Insights on how the team fit into the American League as well as statistics covering the team's records throughout its existence and the lifetime records of all members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who played with the Washington Senators are also provided.

From 1884 to 1953, the International League enjoyed a measure of stability that was the envy of many other minor leagues. With franchises located in cities along the East Coast and Canada - including Newark, Toronto, Baltimore, Montreal, and Providence - the circuit produced a brand of baseball that was only a bit below that of the majors. This is the complete, year-by-year, team-by-team statistical history of the first 70 years of the International League, from its beginnings with the Eastern League in 1854, to 1953 when longtime member Baltimore was forced to relocate its franchise to make way for a major league team. For each season, there is a brief essay that covers the league's highlights and its champion. Full rosters for each team are then provided, with complete statistics for all players.

Hall of Fame umpire Bill McGowan controlled the field of play as much with his personality as with the rulebook; his respected 30-year career, including 2,532 consecutive games, was among the longest in baseball history. McGowan was the home plate umpire in the first-ever American League pennant playoff game, Cleveland versus Boston in 1948. Famous for his sense of humor, great dramatics, and wild gestures, he was known to turn a strike into a ball if he thought a player deserved a break, or to eject half a team if they annoyed him. He promoted such players as Goose Goslin, Moe Berg, Stanley ?Bucky? Harris, and Jimmy Dykes; wrote articles and newspaper columns; and founded a school for umpires in College Park, Maryland, which continues today as the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School. This richly illustrated biography gives an intimate view of this talented umpire, from his birth in 1896 and long marriage to his death from diabetes in 1954. With research including interviews with former players as well as family members, the work provides a wealth of anecdotes and insights into his profession. The textbook McGowan wrote for his students is included as an appendix.

Before the rise of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1940s, baseball was a game of white men, cloth caps and concrete walls. Four men helped to change the sport as America knew it - Branch Rickey, Larry MacPhail, Jackie Robinson and Pete Reiser. These men were essential to the evolution of baseball, especially in their home of Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. It was there that the first major league game was televised, where the batting helmet was developed, where the first walls were padded and the first outfield warning tracks laid down and - with the arrival of Jackie Robinson, it is where the color line was broken. This richly researched history which includes chapters such as ""1940: MacPhail Starts a Dodger Dynasty,"" ""1942: FDR Says the Show Must Go On"" and ""The War Years,"" presents an exploration of how a crucial decade of Dodger accomplishments transformed American baseball.

Baseball player Tony Lazzeri was the first great Italian-American sports superstar. He was known for his excellent glove, strong throwing arm and good speed, as well as his honesty, integrity and support of his teammates. This member of the 1927 Murderers' Row of the New York Yankees batted sixth behind Earl Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Bob Meusel. The major league's first power-hitting second baseman, he batted over.300 five times and drove in over 100 runs in seven seasons. He was the Yankees regular second baseman for twelve consecutive seasons and helped them win six pennants and five world championships. Chosen to play in the first All-Star Game in 1933, he made the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Researched from primary sources as well as interviews with his peers, this biography covers Lazzeri's life from his birth in San Francisco to Italian immigrants; his harsh, poverty-stricken childhood, and struggles with epilepsy (though he never suffered an attack while playing baseball); through every moment of his impressive career (as well as the time he struck out against Grover Cleveland Alexander in Game Seven of the 1926 World Series); ending with his death at age 42 of a heart attack. Lazzeri's batting record is included as an appendix and the work is illustrated with both private and public photographs.

Joe McCarthy was headed towards a career as a plumber - until the parish priest intervened, and convinced McCarthy's mother that he could make more of himself in baseball. She relented, and Joseph Vincent McCarthy embarked on a career that ranks him among the greatest managers ever. In 24 years his teams took nine pennants, seven World Series titles, and never finished lower than fourth. This biography of Joe McCarthy details the 90-year life of one of the greatest managers in baseball's history. Baseball was McCarthy's ticket out of a working-class existence in Germantown, Pennsylvania, taking him to college, the minor leagues, managerial stints in baseball's backwaters, and on to remarkable years with the Yankees, Cubs and Red Sox - years filled with triumph and heartbreak. Seven championships and the highest managerial winning percentage ever earned him entry to the Hall of Fame, but McCarthy will always be remembered for his deft handling of his players. McCarthy's ability to handle even ""unmanageable"" players won him the respect of all. His effect on the lives of his young charges was, in his mind, his greatest legacy.

As World War II depleted the available manpower available to the major and minor leagues, Chicago Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley came up with a plan to ensure baseball would continue in the war years: the creation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The inaugural season in 1943 was so successful that two additional teams were added for 1944. One of the players brought in to fill the rosters of the new teams was Dottie Wiltse, a star softball player from Southern California. Assigned to the newly formed Minneapolis Millerettes, Wiltse went on to become one of the dominant players in the AAGPBL. During her six-year career with the Millerettes and the Fort Wayne Daisies, Dottie Wiltse Collins (married to Harvey Collins in 1946) pitched in 223 games, with a 117?76 record, 1205 strikeouts, and an earned run average of 1.83. Based on extensive research and interviews with Collins and other principals, this work covers the pitcher's early career as a softball player, her triumphs in professional baseball, and her part in the renewed interest in the women's league in the late 1980s.

Baseball player and manager Hugh Ambrose Jennings was the kind of colorful personality who inspired nicknames. Sportswriters called him ?Ee-yah? for his famous coaching box cry and ?Hustling Hughey? for his style of play. But to the nearly 100 other men from northeast Pennsylvania who followed Jennings from the coal mines to the major leagues, he was known as ?Big Daddy, ? not for his physical stature but for his iconic status to men desperate to escape the mines. The son of an immigrant coal miner from Pittston, Pennsylvania, Jennings himself became a miner at the ripe old age of 11 or 12. He eventually became a mule driver, earning $1.10 per day and dreaming of getting $5 per day for playing baseball on Saturday afternoons. From the rough-and-tumble world of semi-pro baseball to the major leagues, Jennings was driven to succeed and fearless in his pursuit of his dream. He joined the Baltimore Orioles in 1894 and went on to become manager of the Detroit Tigers during Ty Cobb's heyday. Jennings? story is emblematic of how the national pastime and the American dream came together for a generation of ballplayers in the early 20th century.

By the mid?1870s, gambling in baseball threatened the public's confidence in the sport and its very existence as a professional enterprise. Recognizing this, Chicago owner William A. Hulbert and seven of his colleagues formed the National League, dedicating it to such high-minded ideals as preventing contract jumping and, most importantly, eliminating gambling from the sport. Hulbert's new league was severely threatened in 1877 by a gambling scandal that rocked its foundation. In mid-season, the Louisville Grays were the league's hottest team, but a disastrous eastern road trip caused vice president Charles Chase to question the efforts of some of his players. Sure-handed infielders were making inexplicable errors, and pitcher Jim Devlin was suddenly not as sharp as he had been previously. Chase's investigation found Devlin, A.H. Nichols, W.H. Carver, and George Hall had ?sold? games, and the four were banned from the league. This work focuses first on the formation of the National League and the changing nature of professional baseball in the 1870s. The early seasons of the league are covered, and the author gives a detailed account of the Grays? 1877 season and the evidence against the four players. Also fully explored are the impact of the Grays scandal and its lasting influence on the governance of the sport.

Many of the great ballplayers of the Negro League have been forgotten simply because baseball's Hall of Fame would not recognize black players until Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige made their way into the Hall of Fame. For this book, more than 50 former Negro League players and baseball historians were asked to vote for players who they believe should have been included in the Hall of Fame, and to select an All-Time Negro League All-Star Team. In addition to presenting and discussing their choices, the book profiles the lives and careers of the players selected. Appendices include rosters of the players and historians who voted.

Many histories of the New York Yankees only skim the early years in their rush to pick up with the 1919 season when Babe Ruth joined the team and go on to celebrate the careers of Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford, and the team's World Series titles. But what about the Yankees before these big names? The early Yankees, who spent their first 12 years known as the Highlanders and were occasionally known as the Americans and the Invaders, get the attention they deserve in this work. It tells the story up until the sale of the Yankees in December 1914, beginning with 1903 when the team was formed from the remnants of the Baltimore Orioles. Led by future Hall of Famers ?Wee? Willie Keeler, Jack Chesbro, and Clark Griffith, they were the most expensive major league team ever assembled?but they are remembered primarily for their terrible failures, which included losing a club-low 103 games in 1908 and finishing 55 games out of first place in 1912. Yes, the Yankees.

One of the oldest and most celebrated franchises in baseball history, the Cincinnati Reds have left an indelible mark on the national pastime. Perhaps the most compelling but overlooked period in Reds history is the 1940 Championship season, during which the team won 100 games and earned the world title while overcoming an in-season tragedy faced by no other team in baseball history. Four attempted suicides, three of which were successful, by individuals connected to the team dealt a tragic and unprecedented setback to what was ultimately a successful season. This book addresses both the 1940 Cincinnati Reds as a collective group and, to a greater degree, the individual players who comprised that championship squad. Early chapters begin with the story of Willard Hershberger, the 1939 reserve catcher for the Reds and the only player to ever commit suicide during a major league season. Later chapters tell the stories of Bill McKechnie and Warren Giles, the managers who together led the Reds to victory over the Detroit Tigers in 1940, and the stories of the players on the pennant-winning team, Frank McCormick, Lonnie Frey, Billy Myers, Billy Werber, Eddie Joost, Paul Derringer, William ""Bucky"" Walters, Johnny Vander Meer, Gene Thompson, Jim Turner, Joseph Beggs, Jimmy Ripple, and Ernie Lombardi. The crucial games, important performances, and personal tragedies of the 1940 season, culminating in the drama of a seven game World Series, are chronicled in this book.

The Akron club's accumulation of talented ball players and its success against the best opposition of the time set it apart from the general development of 19th century baseball. Like many of the independent baseball teams that proliferated in the 1870s and 1880s, it was formed as a joint stock company by prominent citizens and businessmen. Its talent led it to be raided out of existence. Of the 20 men who played with the Akrons during 1881, 14 played major league ball in subsequent seasons. Most prominent were Hall of Famer Bid McPhee and Tony Mullane. This work traces the development and play of the team from its formation in 1879 through its great 1881 season and on. Biographical profiles of the players, with personal and professional details, are interspersed throughout. Appendices include the 1881 calendar of scores and 40 box-scores (and compiled statistics) for the 1881 season, as well as the box-score of the Akrons' victory over the Chicagos of Cap Anson in 1880.

Here is the baseball history of three brothers. George was the eldest of the trio and the local hero. He played, managed and scouted in professional baseball for 50 years. Rick was the cerebral baseball brother. He devoted 60 years to the game in such capacities as college player, eight-time major league all-star, coach, scout and major league executive. Wes was the natural. He was as talented as anyone who ever set foot on a baseball diamond and as good as any pitcher who ever threw a ball. This work chronicles the Ferrell family history with a major emphasis on George, Rick, and Wes; all the baseball doings; and includes numerous photographs. An appendix offers a year-by-year statistical look at the baseball careers of all seven Ferrell brothers including date of birth, height, weight, league, team, position, and averages, among other data.

Baseball lore is replete with the tales of such legendary Negro League stars as Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson and a few others. But the stories of the many other African Americans, both stars and journeymen, have largely been forgotten. These were the men who barnstormed the country, playing in loosely organized leagues and eking out a living doing what they did best, playing baseball. In this work, 52 players reminisce about what it was like to play in the Negro Leagues, from the great teams and players to the terrible Jim Crow conditions they faced in the South. Now in their sixties, seventies and eighties, these men reflect on their careers with humor, bluntness, and poignancy, providing a rich record of a part of the game that is quickly being lost to history.

More than 5000 major and minor league baseball players left the baseball diamond to serve in the military during World War II, but President Roosevelt insisted that baseball still be played to boost the country's morale. More than 400 replacement players made their major league debuts between 1943 and 1945, among them Sal Maglie, Andy Pakfo, Red Schoendist and Stan Musial. The author of this book points out that the true story of wartime baseball rests mostly with the players who careers were not so well remembered or documented. He highlights nine players - Frank Mancuso, Ford Mullen, Ed Carnett, Lee Pfund, George Hausmann, Cy Buker, Bill Lefebvre, Eddie Basinski, and Nick Strincevich - who took the field while the major leaguers were fighting in the war. They share their memories of being called up to play in the majors, and their feelings about providing much needed and much wanted entertainment to thousands of Americans during the war years.

He was often nonchalant and unfocused, showing up minutes before a game. He was rumored to get himself ejected so he could get to the racetrack. He was feisty, and abusive towards umpires even by today's standards. And he's among the best shortstops ever to play the game. ""Bad Bill"" Dahlen retired having played in more games than anyone in major league history; he was in the top ten for walks, extra base hits, RBI's and stolen bases; and he led all shortstops in games, assists, putouts and double plays. He starred in both the 19th century and the deadball era, and managed as well. He's a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, right? Wrong. Player after player with lower career ratings has been admitted, yet Dahlen has been ignored. Maybe time has clouded memories of the brilliance of this offensive dynamo and master of his position--but how much longer can it be before Bad Bill Dahlen takes his rightful place in Cooperstown? This examination of Bill Dahlen's career as a player and manager highlights his strengths and weaknesses, personal and professional. Chronicling his achievements and placing him in context with the greats of all time, it makes a strong case that Bill Dahlen is a Hall of Fame shortstop, head and shoulders above many inductees. Seventeen chapters and 49 photographs trace his career; appendices compare his numbers to his Hall of Fame contemporaries, Hall of Fame shortstops, and list his lifetime batting and fielding statistics. Notes, a bibliography and an index are included.

In 1941, his first full season, Pete Reiser became the youngest batting champion in history, winning the NL title with a.343 average, and led the league in runs, doubles, triples, total bases, and slugging average. By July of 1942, the popular Brooklyn outfielder was flirting with.400 and was easily baseball's fastest rising star. But a jarring collision with the outfield wall in St. Louis sent his season into a tailspin. After spending the next three years in the Army, he would come back to lead the league in stolen bases, battling dizziness and headaches throughout the season. Ten more collisions with the outfield wall - each adding a shoulder separation, muscle tear, fracture, contusion, or concussion to his long list of injuries - would make him a frequent visitor to the disabled list and keep Reiser from ever again playing a full season. This biography provides the full story on Reiser, with special emphasis given the highlights of Reiser's playing days and the factors that kept him from fulfilling his enormous potential. In addition, the author discusses the broader situation of major league baseball.