The roots of professional baseball, and indeed its heart, may be
found in the American Midwest, especially in Missouri. In Seasons
in the Sun, Roger D. Launius offers an excellent overview of the
teams, pennant races, trials, and triumphs of the different
major-league teams that have resided in the state over the years.
Since 1876, when St. Louis became a charter member of the newly
formed National League, there have also been other major-league
franchises from less well known major leagues in St. Louis. The St.
Louis major-league baseball experience is not limited to the
extraordinary success and fame of the Cardinals, who have won more
World Series championships than any other National League team. St.
Louis also claims the excellent but short-lived Brown Stockings,
the city's first entry into the National League; the American
League's Browns, who spent most of their existence in the first
half of the twentieth century at the bottom of the standings; the
virtually forgotten Terriers of the Federal League in 1914-1915;
and the Maroons of the pre-twentieth-century National League.
On the other side of the state, Kansas City was home to one of
the premier franchises of the Negro Leagues, the Kansas City
Monarchs. The Monarchs were members of the Negro National League
between 1920 and 1931, and won the Negro World Series in 1924 plus
a host of league championships thereafter. Independent barnstormers
between 1932 and 1936, they were part of the Negro American League
from 1937 to 1959. In addition, Kansas City hosted the American
League's Athletics for thirteen seasons between the team's glory
years in Philadelphia and Oakland. The A's departed in 1967, but in
1969 the Royals replacedthem as Kansas City's American League
entry. The Royals contended for the pennant within three years of
their creation, then won a string of division championships in the
late 1970s, the American League pennant in 1980, and the World
Series against the cross-state Cardinals in 1985.
Major-league baseball has a long and significant history in the
state of Missouri, and Launius has done a superb job of telling its
story through words and pictures. As the first work to encapsulate
this rich history of statewide major-league activities, Seasons in
the Sun will be welcomed by baseball fans everywhere.
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