A widespread perception exists among political commentators, campaign operatives and presidential candidates that vice presidential (VP) running mates can deliver their home state's electoral votes in a presidential election. In recent elections, presidential campaigns have even changed their strategy in response to the perceived VP home state advantage. But is the advantage real? And could it decide a presidential election? In the most comprehensive analysis to date, Devine and Kopko demonstrate that the VP home state advantage is actually highly conditional and rarely decisive in the Electoral College. However, it could change the outcome of a presidential election under narrow but plausible conditions. Sophisticated in its methodology and rich in historical as well as contemporary insight, The VP Advantage is essential and accessible reading for anyone interested in understanding how running mates influence presidential elections. -- .

A widespread perception exists among political commentators, campaign operatives and presidential candidates that vice presidential (VP) running mates can deliver their home state's electoral votes in a presidential election. In recent elections, presidential campaigns have even changed their strategy in response to the perceived VP home state advantage. But is the advantage real? And could it decide a presidential election? In the most comprehensive analysis to date, Devine and Kopko demonstrate that the VP home state advantage is actually highly conditional and rarely decisive in the Electoral College. However, it could change the outcome of a presidential election under narrow but plausible conditions. Sophisticated in its methodology and rich in historical as well as contemporary insight, The VP Advantage is essential and accessible reading for anyone interested in understanding how running mates influence presidential elections. -- .

Every magnate in the country is indebted to [Harry Wright] for the establishment of baseball as a business, and every patron for fulfilling him with a systematic recreation. Every player is indebted to him for inaugurating an occupation in which he gains a livelihood, and the country at large for adding one more industry to furnish employment"--The Reach Guide (1896). This full-length biography resurrects perhaps baseball's foremost-unrecognized legend, "The Father of Professional Base Ball," Hall of Famer Harry Wright. The son of a premier cricketer, Sam Wright, Harry converted (together with his Hall of Fame brother George) to baseball after emigrating to America from England. Harry Wright went on to become one of baseball's most successful players, managers, and innovators. Among his lasting contributions to the game were not only the implementation of spring training, doubleheaders, and the modern uniform, but the advent of professionalism, which contemporaries contended never would have been successfully established without him. Drawing on contemporary sources including his own papers, this book covers all of Wright's life: his arrival in America; his experiences with the undefeated Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869-70; his relationship with his wives and children; his experiences in Boston, Providence, and Philadelphia; his death at age 60 in 1895; and his election to the Hall of Fame in 1953.