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Major League Baseball has had a long and storied history, but
perhaps no era has been as competitive and unpredictable as the
past 25 years, with an expanded postseason making for an unexpected
and entertaining end to each season. In America's Game in the
Wild-Card Era: From Strike to Pandemic, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte
provides a compelling examination of Major League Baseball since
the 1994 players' strike. He reveals how the last quarter century
has been the most dynamic in MLB history and argues that bringing
wild-card teams and the division-series round into the postseason
mix have fundamentally changed how dynasties should be perceived.
Following the major storylines for all 30 teams, along with the
division races and state of dynasties over the past 25 years,
America's Game in the Wild-Card Era is a captivating look into a
new age of baseball. America's Game in the Wild-Card Era, together
with Soderholm-Difatte's America's Game, Tumultuous Times in
America's Game, and The Reshaping of America's Game, form the
author's complete, definitive history of Major League Baseball.
When Jackie Robinson made his debut at Ebbets Field on opening day
in 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first major league team
with a black player anywhere in its organization. By the end of the
Golden Era of baseball, a period in and around the 1950s, there
would be an unprecedented number of notable black players in the
major leagues, including Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks,
Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson. While this era
is defined by integration, it was also the age of the "boys of
summer" Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankee dominance, and the first
major change in the geographic landscape of the big leagues in half
a century. In The Golden Era of Major League Baseball: A Time of
Transition and Integration, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte explores the
significant events and momentous changes that took place in
baseball from 1947 to 1960. Beginning with Jackie Robinson's rookie
season in 1947, Soderholm-Difatte provides a careful and thorough
examination of baseball's integration, including the struggles of
black players who were not elite to break into the starting
lineups. In addition, the author looks at the dying practice of
player-managers, the increasing use of relief pitchers and
platooning, the iconic 1951 pennant race between the New York
Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, and more. Soderholm-Difatte also
tells the stories of three central characters to this era, whose
innovations, strategies, and vision changed the game-Branch Rickey,
who challenged the baseball establishment by integrating the
Dodgers; Casey Stengel, whose 1949-1953 Yankees won five straight
championships; and Leo Durocher, whose spy operations was a major
factor in the Giants' 1951 pennant surge. In an age when baseball
was at the forefront of American society, integration would come to
be the foremost legacy of the Golden Era. But this was also a time
of innovative strategy, from the use of pinch hitters to frequent
defensive substitutions. Concluding with an overview of how
baseball is still evolving today, The Golden Era of Major League
Baseball will be of interest to baseball fans and historians as
well as to scholars examining the history of integration in sports.
In Tumultuous Times in America’s Game: From Jackie Robinson's
Breakthrough to the War over Free Agency, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte
provides a comprehensive examination of major developments and key
figures in Major League Baseball from the integration of Jackie
Robinson in 1947 to the owners-instigated catastrophic players’
strike of 1994-95. While many fans will recall those decades with
fond remembrances of the baseball stars who played then—from Joe
DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays to Roberto
Clemente, Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, and Cal Ripken—they were
also a time of substantial challenges that upended more than half a
century of tradition that was the backbone of the major leagues.
Tumultuous Times in America’s Game includes histories of each of
the major league franchises, presented alongside
Soderholm-Difatte’s detailed examination of the controversies,
developments, and innovations from these significant decades in
professional baseball. Recaps of several of baseball’s most
exciting pennant races round out the narrative, making this book a
valuable read for fans and historians of the national pastime.
This comprehensive survey of major league baseball looks at the
national pastime's legendary figures, major innovations, and
pivotal moments, from the beginning of the twentieth century
through World War II. In America's Game: A History of Major League
Baseball through World War II, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte provides a
comprehensive narrative of the major developments and key figures
in Major League Baseball, during a time when the sport was still
truly the national pastime. Soderholm-Difatte details pivotal
moments-including the founding of the American League, the 1919
Black Sox scandal, and navigating the Great Depression and two
World Wars-and concludes with a chapter examining the exclusion of
black ballplayers from the major leagues. Central personalities
covered in this book include baseball executives Judge Landis and
Branch Rickey, managers John McGraw and Joe McCarthy, and iconic
players such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. America's Game isn't simply
about celebrating the exploits of great players and teams; it is
just as much about the history of Major League Baseball as an
institution and the evolution of the game itself. With significant
changes taking place in baseball in recent times, this book will
remind baseball fans young and old of the rich history of the game.
The past 25 years have been the most dynamic in the history of
Major League Baseball, from the league's recovery after the
players' strike to the growth of analytics and the rise of new
World Series contenders. In The Reshaping of America's Game: Major
League Baseball after the Players' Strike, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte
reflects on the factors and challenges that have changed major
league baseball since the 1994-1995 players' strike. He examines
the consolidation of power in the Commissioner's Office, the influx
of Latin and Asian players, the boom in new stadiums, the influence
of analytics in reshaping how rosters are constructed, the
relationship between managers and the front office, and the rise of
the power-game between pitchers and batters that has led to
unprecedented strikeout and home run totals. While Major League
Baseball continues to develop and grow, the league has had to
grapple with repeated steroids scandals, the struggle of
small-market teams to remain competitive, and the "forever"
unfinished business between players and owners over free agency and
fair compensation. The Reshaping of America's Game provides a
detailed and intriguing review of the many issues affecting the
national pastime during the liveliest years in MLB history. The
Reshaping of America's Game, together with Soderholm-Difatte's
America's Game, Tumultuous Times in America's Game, and America's
Game in the Wild-Card Era, form the author's complete, definitive
history of Major League Baseball.
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