The fascinating, true, story of baseball's amateur origins. "Explores the conditions and factors that begat the game in the 19th century and turned it into the national pastime....A delightful look at a young nation creating a pastime that was love from the first crack of the bat."-Paul Dickson, The Wall Street Journal Baseball's true founders don't have plaques in Cooperstown. The founders were the hundreds of uncredited amateurs - ordinary people - who played without gloves, facemasks or performance incentives in the middle decades of the 19th century. Unlike today's pro athletes, they lived full lives outside of sports. They worked, built businesses and fought against the South in the Civil War. But that's not the way the story has been told. The wrongness of baseball history can be staggering. You may have heard that Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright invented baseball. Neither did. You may have been told that a club called the Knickerbockers played the first baseball game in 1846. They didn't. You have read that baseball's color line was uncrossed and unchallenged until Jackie Robinson in 1947. Nope. You have been told that the clean, corporate 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings were baseball's first professional club. Not true. They weren't the first professionals; they weren't all that clean, either. You may have heard Cooperstown, Hoboken, or New York City called the birthplace of baseball, but not Brooklyn. Yet Brooklyn was the home of baseball's first fans, the first ballpark, the first statistics-and modern pitching. Baseball was originally supposed to be played, not watched. This changed when crowds began to show up at games in Brooklyn in the late 1850s. We fans weren't invited to the party; we crashed it. Professionalism wasn't part of the plan either, but when an 1858 Brooklyn versus New York City series accidentally proved that people would pay to see a game, the writing was on the outfield wall. When the first professional league was formed in 1871, baseball was already a fully formed modern sport with championships, media coverage, and famous stars. Professional baseball invented an organization, but not the sport itself. Baseball's amazing amateurs had already done that. Thomas W. Gilbert's history is for baseball fans and anyone fascinating by history, American culture, and how great things began.

Inspired by the author's career as a sportswriter for the Washington Post, Squeeze Play tells the story of female reporter A. B. Berkowitz, who is assigned to cover the men of the Washington Senators -- the worst team in major league baseball. Life in the locker room shows her not just the players'…um…assets but also their all-too-human frailties. Love for the game and love for the newspaper business are the stars in this hilarious and heartbreaking novel that "will have you singing a rousing chorus of 'Take Me Out to the Locker Room'"(People).

"This chapter book series by Dan Gutman is a more advanced version of the Magic Tree House series where the historical adventures are all baseball focused. I highly recommend this book to baseball fans and action/adventure fans" (Brightly.com).When Joe Stoshack's dad ends up in the hospital after a car accident, he has two words to say to his son: Mickey Mantle. For Stosh has a special power--with a baseball card in hand, he can travel back in time. And his dad has a rare card--Mantle's valuable 1951 rookie card. "I've been thinking about it for a long time. Go back to 1951. You're the only one who can do it," Dad whispers.That night Stosh grips the card and prepares for another magical adventure. But when he opens his eyes, he's not in Yankee Stadium--he's in Milwaukee on June 8, 1944. And how he wound up there is not half as surprising as what he finds!

"Derek Jeter is undoubtedly the most talked about, argued about, cheered, booed and ultimately respected baseball player of his generation. And as public a figure as he has been, he is in many ways the least known. That changes now as Ian O'Connor, one of the best sports writers anywhere, goes deep and does what no one has quite been able to do: Tell us a bit about who Derek Jeter really is."--Joe Posnanski, author of "The Machine"
"Deftly told."--"Washington Post"
In "The Captain," Ian O'Connor draws on unique access to Derek Jeter and more than 200 new interviews to reveal how a biracial kid from Michigan became New York's most beloved sports figure and the face of the steroid-free athlete. O'Connor takes us behind the scenes of a legendary baseball life, from Jeter's early struggles in the minor leagues, when homesickness and errors threatened a stillborn career, to the heady days of Yankee superiority and nightlife, to the battles with former best friend A-Rod. All along the way, Jeter has made his Hall-of-Fame destiny look easy. But behind that leadership and hero's grace there are hidden struggles and complexities that have never been explored, until now.

Joe DiMaggio was, at every turn, one man we could look at who made us feel good.

In the hard-knuckled thirties, he was the immigrant boy who made it big -- and spurred the New York Yankees to a new era of dynasty. He was Broadway Joe, the icon of elegance, the man who wooed and won Marilyn Monroe -- the most beautiful girl America could dream up.

Joe DiMaggio was a mirror of our best self. And he was also the loneliest hero we ever had.

In this groundbreaking biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer presents a shocking portrait of a complicated, enigmatic life. The story that DiMaggio never wanted told, tells of his grace -- and greed; his dignity, pride -- and hidden shame. It is a story that sweeps through the twentieth century, bringing to light not just America's national game, but the birth (and the price) of modern national celebrity.

Providing a behind-the-scenes look at the personalities and events that have shaped the Detroit Tigers' recent resurgence, readers will meet the players, coaches, and management and share in their moments of greatness, grief, and quirkiness. Beginning in 2002, when author Mario Impemba arrived in the Tigers' broadcast booth and when the team had consecutive 100-loss seasons, the book details how, in just three shorts years, team president Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland led the Tigers to the American League pennant--a feat the Tigers repeated in 2012. Impemba takes readers into the Comerica Park broadcast booth alongside the legendary Ernie Harwell, onto the team plane during the team's two runs to the World Series, and into the clubhouse as Miguel Cabrera closed in on the 2012 Triple Crown. He shares personal stories about several Tigers stars, including Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Prince Fielder, Curtis Granderson, Ivan Rodriguez, Kenny Rogers, Magglio Ordonez, and more. "If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Tigers" gives fans a taste of what it's like to be a part of the Tigers storied history from a perspective unlike any other.

1954,A triumphant season for black ballplayers and the countryaward-winning New York Times bestselling author Bill Madden delivers the first major book to fully examine the 1954 baseball season, drawn largely from exclusive recent interviews with the major players themselves, including Willie Mays and Larry Doby as well as New York baseball legends from that era: Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford of the Yankees, Monte Irvin of the Giants, and Carl Erskine of the Dodgers. 1954 transports readers across the baseball landscape of the time as future superstars such as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and others entered the leagues and continued to integrate the sport. Weaving together the narrative of one of baseball's greatest seasons wit the racially charged events of that year,the same in which the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregation of the races be outlawed in America's public schools, 1954 demonstrates how our national pastime was actually ahead of the curve in terms of the acceptance of black Americans, while the nation at large continued to struggle with tolerance.

An important resource for umpires, coaches, leagues, and serious fans of Major League Baseball (MLB), this handbook lists the dos and don’ts of the national pastime. Fully up-to-date, this book contains the official and sanctioned MLB rules and their interpretations per the Playing Rules Committee, the sole group that determines baseball’s regulations.

Twins Pride"" recounts the players, teams, magical moments, riveting rivalries, and memorable venues, plus a special tribute to ""Mr. Twin""?Harmon Killebrew. Other features include the all-time Minnesota Twins team, the rosters of all three world championship teams, Twins humor, and more, as told by players, manager, coaches, opponents, fan, and the media.""

Ross reveals the story of New York Yankees baseball, as told by Yankee players, coaches, opponents, fans, and the media. It salutes the great pinstripers and the unrivaled championship teams, major moments, and the tradition. Includes a tribute to the immortal No. 7, Mickey Mantle.

"Twins Pride" recounts the players, teams, magical moments, riveting rivalries, and memorable venues, plus a special tribute to "Mr. Twin"?Harmon Killebrew. Other features include the all-time Minnesota Twins team, the rosters of all three world championship teams, Twins humor, and more, as told by players, manager, coaches, opponents, fan, and the media.

There was a time when no town was too small to field a professional baseball team. In 1949, the high point for the minor leagues, there were 59 leagues and 464 cities with teams, two-thirds of them in so-called bush leagues classified as C and D. Most of the players were strangers outside the towns where they played, but some achieved hero status and enthralled local fans as much as the stars in the majors. Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors profiles some of the most fascinating characters from baseball's golden era. It includes the stories of players such as Ron Necciai, the only pitcher in history to strike out 27 batters in a single game; Joe Brovia, one of the most feared hitters to ever play in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), who had to wait 15 years for a shot in the majors; and Pat Stasey, a mellow Irishman who "Cubanized" minor league baseball in Texas and New Mexico, helping to bring down the walls of segregation. Compelling and timeless, their stories touch on many issues that still affect the sport today. Left on Base in the Bush Leagues provides an entertaining glimpse into a time when baseball was a game and the players were regular guys who often held second jobs off the field. Featuring hundreds of personal interviews with the players, their teammates, managers, and opponents, this book creates a colorful tapestry of the minor leagues during the 1950s and 60s.

The Curse, the Wall, the Rocket, the homer Teddy Ballgame, Yaz, Fenway, Nomar, and Pedro. Included in THE RED SOX CENTURY is one hundred and one years of Red Sox baseball from 1903-2003. While the Olde Towne Team may have registered more than its fair share of heartaches on the diamond, the Red and Blue have etched themselves deeply into the rich fiber of the American game as a perennial contender in the American League. THE RED SOX CENTURY is the story of Boston's beloved baseball team, a "you are there" account of all the greats of the Hub's Hose and the best seat in the house for the epic milestones in team history, as told through the voices of players, coaches, and sportswriters. This tribute also includes an all-time Red Sox team, a special shrine to No. 9, and the player rosters of every Red Sox World Series team. From Pesky's Pole and the Green Monster to the Red Seat and those #*?@! Yankees, this treasury of team lore has it all for Red Sox fans and followers of all ages. Batter up! It's Bosox time in Beantown.

In Ninety Percent Mental, Bob Tewksbury shows readers a side of the game only he can provide, given his singular background as both a longtime MLB pitcher and a mental skills coach for two of the sport's most fabled franchises, the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants. Fans watching the game on television or even at the stadium don't have access to the mind games a pitcher must play in order to get through an at-bat, an inning, a game. Tewksbury explores the fascinating psychology behind baseball, such as how players use techniques of imagery, self-awareness, and strategic thinking to maximize performance, and how a pitcher's strategy changes throughout a game. He also offers an in-depth look into some of baseball's most monumental moments and intimate anecdotes from a "who's who" of the game, including legendary players who Tewksbury played with and against (such as Mark McGwire, Craig Biggio, and Greg Maddux), game-changing managers and executives (Joe Torre, Bruce Bochy, Brian Sabean) and current star players (Jon Lester, Anthony Rizzo, Andrew Miller, Rich Hill). With Tewksbury's esoteric knowledge as a thinking-fan's player and his expertise as a "baseball whisperer", this entertaining book is perfect for any fan who wants to see the game in a way he or she has never seen it before. Ninety Percent Mental will deliver an unprecedented look at the mound games and mind games of Major League Baseball.

It's the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies - with real players, in a real ballpark, playing in real time. That's what Ben Lindbergh and Sam Millergotto do when the Sonoma Stompers, an independent minor league team in California, offered them the chance to run the team's baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics. Their story is unlike any other baseball tale you've ever read. We tag along as Lindbergh and Miller apply their number crunching insights to all aspects of assembling and running a team, following one cardinal rule: It has to work. We meet colourful figures like general manager Theo Fightmaster and boundary breakers like the first openly gay player in American professional baseball. Even Jose Canseco makes a cameo appearance. Will their knowledge of numbers bring the Stompers a championship? Will the team have a competitive advantage, or is the old folk wisdom really true after all? Will the players attract the attention of big league scouts or will this be a fast track to oblivion? It's a wild ride, as the authors' infectious enthusiasm and feel for the absurd make the Stompers' story one that will speak to numbers geeks and traditionalists alike. And in a new afterword, Lindbergh and Miller pick up the story in a new season to show how the team and its players continue to break new ground, on and off the field.

A fascinating tour of baseball's greatest moments and iconic stadiums, told through the reminiscences of 50 play-by-play broadcasters. With careers spanning two to three times that of an average player, baseball's best broadcasters have no shortage of history to offer. They have witnessed opening days, no hitters, slugfests, and perfect games, all from arguably the best seats in the house. Broadcasters know their clubs, their stadiums, and their teams in a way that no one else can. In The Voices of Baseball: The Game's Greatest Broadcasters Reflect on America's Pastime, Updated Edition, Kirk McKnight provides an in-depth look at each of Major League Baseball's thirty ballparks from the perspectives of the game's longest-tenured storytellers. Fifty broadcasters reflect on their most iconic calls, fondest memories, what makes their ballparks unique, and more. This updated edition includes 14 additional broadcasters, two new stadiums, the latest World Series calls from the booth, and a special tribute to the recently-departed Vin Scully. With decades of broadcasting between them, their stories encapsulate some of Major League Baseball's biggest moments. Generations of baseball fans will all enjoy the historic and triumphant memories shared by some of the game's greatest broadcasters in The Voices of Baseball.

An Intimate Look at the Man Behind the Headlines More than thirteen years after he was banned from Major League Baseball "for life" because of alleged sports gambling, Pete Rose continues to be a colorful and controversial newsmaker. His frequent appeals to commissioner Bud Selig for reinstatement--a move that likely would finally lead to his being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame--has had the overwhelming support of fans, reflecting the enthusiasm Rose brought to the game and the passion he has generated over the years. Rose played twenty-four seasons before retiring in 1986 with numerous records, most notably 4,256 career hits, which surpassed the immortal Ty Cobb. Rose also set Major League records for most games played (3,562), most at bats (14,053), most seasons with two hundred or more hits (10), and most winning games played in (1,972). During a career with the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies, as well as a brief stint with the Montreal Expos, Rose was the National League's Rookie of the Year in 1963 and its Most Valuable Player in 1973, in addition to winning three batting titles and two gold gloves. He also was the World Series MVP with Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" team that won the 1975 series title. In Pete Rose: Baseball's Charlie Hustle, dozens of the people who know him best--teammates, opposing players, friends, fans, hometown acquaintances, and baseball experts and observers--share their memories of the man and the player. Among the many aspects of Rose's life explored here are his competitive zeal even as a Little Leaguer; his athletic success in high school, where he competed against the likes of Roger Staubach; his on-field scrapes and collisions; hisleadership role on the Big Red Machine; his leaving the Reds to join the Phillies; his record-setting 44-game hitting streak; his pursuit of Cobb's record; his turbulent days as manager of the Reds; his banishment from baseball; and his various enterprises after baseball.

"The vivid story of a young Reggie Jackson on Charlie Finley's A's and the veteran Willie Mays on Yogi's Mets, both destined for the '73 series." -Library Journal A rousing chronicle of one of the most defining years in baseball history that changed the sport forever. In 1973, baseball was in crisis. The first strike in pro sports had soured fans, American League attendance had fallen, and America's team-the Yankees-had lost more games and money than ever. Yet that season, five of the game's greatest figures rescued the national pastime. Hank Aaron riveted the nation with his pursuit of Babe Ruth's landmark home run record in the face of racist threats. George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees at a bargain basement price and began buying back their faded glory. The American League broke ranks with the National League and introduced the designated hitter, extending the careers of aging stars such as Orlando Cepeda. An elderly and ailing Willie Mays-the icon of an earlier generation-nearly helped the Mets pull off a miracle with the final hit of his career. Reggie Jackson, the MVP of a tense World Series, became the prototype of the modern superstar. The season itself provided plenty of drama served up by a colorful cast of characters. The Mets, managed by Yogi Berra, performed another near miracle, rising from last place in the National League East to win the division and take the A's to seven games in the World Series. Pete Rose edged Willie Stargell as the National League's MVP in a controversial vote. Hank Aaron chased Babe Ruth's landmark 714 record in the face of racial threats. Reggie Jackson, the World Series MVP, solidified his reputation as Mr. October. Willie Mays, arguably the best player of the '50s and '60s, hit the final home run of his career and retired, no longer able to keep pace with the younger players of the next generation. Future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and George Brett played in their first major league games; Luis Aparicio and Mays played in their last. That one memorable summer changed baseball forever. "It's a season-ticket to one of the greatest years in baseball history. John Rosengren has given us one of the most enjoyable baseball books to come along in years." -Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season

A comprehensive tome of baseball facts, figures, and did-you-knows-- newly updated! For fans of baseball trivia, this updated version of The New Baseball Bible, first published as The Baseball Catalog in 1980 and selected as a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate, is sure to provide something for everyone, regardless of team allegiance. The book covers the following topics: beginnings of baseball, rules and records, umpires, how to play the game (i.e., strategy), equipment, ballparks, famous faces (i.e., Hank Aaron vs. Babe Ruth), managers, executives, trades, the media, big moments in history, the language of baseball, superstitions and traditions, spring training, today's game through the 2019 season, and much more. Veteran sportswriter Dan Schlossberg weaves in facts, figures, and famous quotes, discusses strategy, and provides stats and images--many of them never previously published elsewhere. With this book, you'll discover how the players' approach, use of equipment, and even salaries and schedules have changed over time. You will also learn the origin of team and player nicknames, fun facts about the All-Star Game and World Series, and so much more. The New Baseball Bible serves as the perfect gift for fans of America's pastime.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams is a true sports legend, a superstar who was his era's greatest hitter. His lifetime .344 average remains one of the highest marks ever achieved. Known at various times as "the Splendid Splinter, " "Teddy Ballgame, " and simply as "the Kid, " Williams played his entire career with the Boston Red Sox. Although missing nearly five full seasons due to military service and two major injuries, Williams still managed to hit 521 home runs to go with his six batting titles, two Triple Crowns, two Most Valuable Player awards, eighteen All-Star selections, and a .406 batting average in 1941 that remains the last time any major-leaguer has topped the .400 mark for a season.

Williams was a talented sportsman who hated to lose. He was also an athletic perfectionist who spent half his career being compared with and contrasted to fellow superstar Joe DiMaggio of the rival New York Yankees. The temperamental yet outgoing Williams wasn't exactly a media darling, but he was a respected, hard-working student of the game. Some observers say Williams was to hitting a baseball what Ben Hogan was to striking a golf ball, which might help explain why the two men had a mutual respect for each other that led to a casual friendship.

In I Remember Ted Williams, the legendary Red Sox outfielder is remembered through dozens of anecdotes, stories, and insights offered in their own words by former teammates as well as friends, associates, media, baseball officials, and fishing buddies. Together these contributors offer a unique and unforgettable reminiscence of one of the greatest and most enigmatic performers in baseball history.

On April 28, 1896, baseball fans traveled in horse-drawn buggies to watch the Detroit Tigers play their first baseball game at the site on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues. Starting out as Bennett Park, a wooden facility with trees growing in the outfield, Tiger Stadium has played a central role in the lives of millions of Detroiters and their families for more than a century. Bennett Park was torn down and replaced by a concrete and steel structure named Navin Field in 1912, was expanded and renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and finally was given the name Tiger Stadium in 1961.

Richard Bak traces the importance of the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in the history of Detroit and its people. During the last century, millions of fans have come to Michigan and Trumbull to watch the Tigers' 7,800 home games, as well as to attend numerous Other sporting, social, and civic events, including high school, collegiate, and professional football games, prep and Negro league baseball contests, political rallies, concerts, and boxing and soccer matches.

A Place for Summer covers baseball in Detroit from its beginnings in the 1850s through the Tigers' 1997 season, and offers a history of Detroit's playing grounds before Bennett Park, including the Woodward Avenue cricket grounds, the original Detroit Athletic Club, Recreation and Boulevard parks, and the many places where the Tigers played bootleg games on Sundays at the turn of the century. Bak presents attendance records from the Tigers' Western League days onward and a complete account of every opening day since 1896. A chapter is dedicated to the football Panthers of the 1920s and their more enduring successor, the Lions, who playedat Michigan and Trumbull through 1974.

A companion to the narrative history, almost two hundred rare photographs capture the spirit of 140 years of baseball in Detroit, from photographs of Detroit's nineteenth-century diamond pioneers, to an eighteen-year-old Ty Cobb in his rookie year, to baseball's first "stadium hug" on April 20, 1988, when more than a thousand fans encircled Tiger Stadium. A Place for Summer furnishes a sense of the relationship between the community, its teams, and the various fields, parks, and stadiums that have served as common ground for generations of Detroiters, especially timely in view of the upcoming erection of a new stadium downtown.

At both the plate and in the field, Joe DiMaggio was one of baseball's most graceful athletes. During his thirteen seasons with the New York Yankees, he played in ten World Series and won nine world championships. For his career, he was a two-time batting champion, three-time Most Valuable Player, hit 361 home runs, and maintained a .325 batting average. His fifty-six-consecutive-game batting streak in 1941 has yet to be broken.

DiMaggio's baseball career began in 1932 when he filled in at shortstop at midseason for a minor league team. In 1934 he became the property of the New York Yankees, which marked the beginning of his road toward greatness in the nation's most famous city on one of the most hallowed fields in the sport. Off the field, his life was marked by a famous marriage to and divorce from Marilyn Monroe, a late-1960s popular song, and a somewhat unhappy retirement.

On baseball's one hundredth anniversary in 1969, he was voted the greatest living player of the game, and the Yankees erected a plaque to him among the memorials to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. On March 8, 1999, at the age of eighty-four, DiMaggio died after a five-month battle with cancer.

In I Remember Joe DiMaggio, dozens of the great ballplayer's contemporaries, teammates, coaches, fans, friends, and relatives recall their favorite memories and anecdotes of this man who became an icon of America. It is a warm, entertaining, and inspiring book about a man whose fame has been the stuff of legend for more than half a century.

Love'em or hate'em, there's no denying that the New York Yankees have won twenty-six world championships. No other team comes close to matching that record. Some clubs are fortunate enough to assemble a team that can be called a dynasty, most never come close -- the Yankees have had five.

Long before the 2000 World Series trophy was awarded, Alan Ross, a lifelong Yankees fan, began compiling a unique, concise treasury of quotations about the Yankees by the players, coaches, and sportswriters who called Yankee Stadium home. The result is an eloquent collection of pinstripe pride that should swell the heart of every Yankees fan. Sentiments from heroes past and present echo through the pages, from Ruth and Gehrig to Stengel and Mantle to Torre and Jeter. Not only are the voices heard of the greats whose names appear on the monuments beyond the left-center field fence at Yankee Stadium -- Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris, Berra, Ford, Munson, Guidry, Jackson, Hunter, and Mattingly -- but also those of other Yankee heroes such as Charley Keller, Spud Chandler, Joe Gordon, Tommy Henrich, Vic Raschi, Allie Reynolds, Bobby Murcer, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Joe Pepitone, and Sparky Lyle.

This tribute to the Yankees also includes a brief history of the team, statistics from the successful World Series campaigns, and the lineups that amassed this legacy. In the end, it is a celebration of the greatness of the Yankees that spanned a century.

This is the kind of book a fan reads over and over. After all, that is the way their Yankees seem to collect world championships.

The strike of 1994 took a lot out of Major League Baseball. For the first time, a World Series was cancelled, something that hadn't even happened during World War II. When play resumed, people stayed away from the ballparks in droves, and attendance was at an all-time low.

Then, in the summer of 1998, balls started flying out of the ballparks in St. Louis and Chicago. Suddenly baseball was fun again. The Great Home Run Derby between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa resulted in both men breaking Roger Maris's 37-year-old record of 61 home runs in a single season. When the season was over, McGwire had hit 70 home runs and Sosa 66, and the New York Yankees had won the first of three consecutive World Series championships.

Among the fans in the ballparks that summer were two recent graduates of Stanford University who had decided that before launching into their careers they would indulge themselves in one of the ultimate baseball fantasies: to see a game in all thirty ballparks of Major League Baseball. To make matters interesting, they decided to view these thirty games and visit the thirty stadiums in less than forty days.

This is the chronicle of that adventure, the story of their experiences at the ballparks and at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the Louisville Slugger Museum, and the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. Each chapter offers a fan's-eye view of the stadiums and a description of their experiences at the ballparks -- Kaval and Null even give advice on what not to miss at each stadium. The notoriety the authors gained while making this pilgrimage earned them special treatment by representatives of the host teams, ballpark officials, and concessionaires.

These storiesfocus on all that is good and enjoyable in Major League Baseball. And they are illustrated throughout with photographs from The Summer That Saved Baseball.