Synopses & Reviews
The crack of the bat on the radio is ingrained in the American mind as baseball takes center stage each summer. Radio has brought the sounds of baseball into homes for almost one hundred years, helping baseball emerge from the 1919 Black Sox scandal into the glorious World Series of the 1920s. The medium gave fans around the country aural access to the first All-Star Game, Lou Gehrigand#8217;s farewell speech, and Bobby Thomsonand#8217;s and#8220;Shot Heard and#8217;Round the World.and#8221; Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Ernie Harwell, Bob Uecker, and dozens of other beloved announcers helped cement the love affair between radio and the national pastime.
and#160;Crack of the Bat takes readers from the 1920s to the present, examining the role of baseball in the development of the radio industry and the complex coevolution of their relationship. James R. Walker provides a balanced, nuanced, and carefully documented look at radio and baseball over the past century, focusing on the interaction between team owners, local and national media, and government and business interests, with extensive coverage of the television and Internet ages, when baseball on the radio had to make critical adjustments to stay viable.
and#160;Despite cable televisionand#8217;s ubiquity, live video streaming, and social media, radio remains an important medium through which fans engage with their teams. The evolving relationship between baseball and radio intersects with topics as varied as the twenty-year battle among owners to control radio, the development of sports as a valuable media product, and the impact of competing technologies on the broadcast medium. Amid these changes, the familiar sounds of the ball hitting the glove and the satisfying crack of the bat stay the same.
Review
and#8220;A fantastic and thought-provoking analysis of how two men championed the fight for racial harmony in segregated America via different rules of engagement. A must-read for any serious student of baseball and American history.and#8221;and#8212;Larry Lester, historian for the Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame
Review
and#8220;Bill Kashatus has given us a very human account of Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella.and#8221;and#8212;Monte Irvin, New York Giants Hall of Famer
and#160;
Review
and#8220;Kashatus sheds new and important insight on the Robinson-Campanella relationship by placing it in the larger framework of African American history.and#8221;and#8212;Larry Hogan, author of
Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American BaseballReview
"Using their racial and social attitudes as a springboard, Kashatus has written a superb narrative of sports, race, and politics in the 1950s and '60s."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
"Enhancing our understanding of attitudes toward integration and race relations at a pivotal stage of American history through this story of baseball, this book is highly recommended as social and sports history."and#8212;Library Journal starred review
Review
and#8220;A Game of Their Own reveals a thrilling and too-long-hidden part of our collective sports history. We owe Jennifer Ring a debt of gratitude for assembling this terrific text. We owe a similar debt to the women in these pages who fiercely and rebelliously love a sport that for too long has refused to return their affections. I donand#8217;t think a person can say they have a comprehensive sports history library without the inclusion of A Game of Their Own.and#8221;and#8212;Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation
Review
andldquo;Ring does not bring comfort to those comfortable with the status quo in baseball. She raises tough questions and follows up with a poignant account of the girls and women who must continue to fight for their place on the field. Meticulously researched, eloquently told.andrdquo;andmdash;Jean Hastings Ardell, author of
Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastimeand#160;
Review
and#8220;Jennifer Ring has written a book that fills a painful gap in baseball history. It is so much more than the story of the playing careers of a group of ballplayers. It is an examination, through the words of the players themselves, of their trials and struggles to be accepted as ballplayers.and#8221;and#8212;Leslie Heaphy, associate professor of history at Kent State University at Stark and coeditor of Encyclopedia of Women in Baseball
Review
and#8220;Armour and Levitt have given the reader an inside look into the different cultures and challenges facing professional sports executives. Their management styles might differ, but the objective never changes: and#8216;Be a consistent winner.and#8217;and#8221;and#8212;Pat Gillick
Review
and#8220;A rare combination of a must-have reference book and engaging storytelling by distinguished baseball historians Armour and Levitt.and#8221;and#8212;Vince Gennaro, president of the Society for American Baseball Research and author of
Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseballand#160;
Review
and#8220;A great source of well-researched front office stories. . . . Armour and Levitt give an insiderand#8217;s look at the teamsand#8217; efforts to innovate in this highly competitive industry.and#8221;and#8212;Sig Mejdal, director of Decision Sciences for the Houston Astros
Review
and#8220;If Moneyball is the tale of how a modern front office works, In Pursuit of Pennants is the prequel that ably sets the stage.and#8221;and#8212;Jonah Keri, author of the bestselling The Extra 2% and Up, Up, and Away
Review
and#8220;Once upon a time you had to go to a ballpark to experience a ball game. Today most of us enjoy baseball across several media, and almost always alone. A game on radioand#8212;or via television or Internet or news accountand#8212;is not as good as being part of the crowd at the ballpark, but what is? This book. James Walker traces the history of baseball on the radio with unmatched love and erudition.and#8221;
and#8212;John Thorn, official historian of Major League Baseball and author of Baseball in the Garden of Eden
Review
and#8220;A uniquely comprehensive and valuable account of baseballand#8217;s radio history, Crack of the Bat also reminds us just how compelling baseball broadcasts can be in the hands of its skilled announcers. Video may have killed other radio celebrities, but todayand#8217;s fans of the national pastime can listen to more and#8220;radio starsand#8221; than ever before.and#8221;and#8212;Pat Hughes, radio voice of the Chicago Cubs
Review
and#8220;Miller Huggins and Jacob Ruppert are two of baseballand#8217;s all-time great characters, and they finally get the treatment they deserve in this highly entertaining, meticulously researched book. You donand#8217;t have to be a Yankees fan to enjoy this wonderful story from baseballand#8217;s golden age.and#8221;and#8212;Jonathan Eig, New York Times best-selling author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
Review
and#8220;The foundation of the legendary New York Yankees that we know today was arguably built on the shoulders of three men: Ruth, Ruppert, and Huggins. While Babe Ruthand#8217;s exploits have been well documented over the years, we now finally have the definitive story of Yankees owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert and his diminutive giant of a manager, Miller Huggins. . . . A and#8216;must-readand#8217; for any fan of the history of this great game.and#8221;and#8212;Vince Gennaro, president of the Society for Baseball Research and professor of sports business management at Columbia University
Review
and#8220;Everyone thinks that it was Babe Ruth who turned the suffering Yankees of New York into the Crusaders of Baseball. The Babe helped, surely, but it was two invisible charactersand#8212;the teamand#8217;s owner, Jacob Ruppert, and the manager, Miller Hugginsand#8212;who played major roles in the Yankees' everlasting turnaround. Our blessings to Steve Steinberg and Lyle Spatz for finally bringing Ruppert and Huggins to new generations of fans.and#8221;and#8212;Al Silverman, former editor of Sport Magazine and editor and publisher at Viking/Penguin
Review
andquot;Robinson and Campanella were trailblazers. Both were passionate, strong-minded men who excelled in baseball and had definite ideas about handling race relations in the game. Kashatus has provided a nice narrative that explains how both men were successful at achieving their goalsandmdash;on and off the field.andquot;andmdash;Bob Dand#39;Angelo, Tampa Tribune
Review
"Lamb's detailed and annotated research provides an in-depth examination of an important step in the integration of baseball, a step that, up until now, has not received the coverage it deserves. Of interest both to baseball fans and social historians."and#8212;Booklist
Review
Lamb tells what Robinson faced in 1946 in segregated Floridaand#8212;six weeks that would become a critical juncture for the national pastime and for an American society on the threshold of a civil rights revolution."and#8212;Dermot McEvoy, Publishers Weekly
Review
"[A]n important contribution to American Studies."and#8212;Choice
Review
"In his richly sourced examination of Robinson's first spring training, Lamb puts readers on the back of a hot Greyhound bus as it makes its way through the Jim Crow South of the mid-1940s. . . . Throughout the book Lamb carefully documents who wrote what, analyzing the black press, mainstream dailies, the Daily Worker, a national newspaper for communists, and even southern newspapers. This comprehensiveness in sources is unprecedented in examinations of press coverage of Robinson's life or career, making it a good investment for researchers in the field based on its footnotes alone. The book also deserves credit for turning attention to the black sportswriters who, as the author writes, 'faced their own color line.'"and#8212;American Journalism
Review
and#8220;Lamb does an excellent job of setting this pivotal episode in baseball history in the larger context of race relations of the South, providing a number of graphic examples of violence against blacks in order to emphasize the dangerous world that Robinson and Wright were entering when they arrived in Florida as new members of the Montreal Royals, Brooklynand#8217;s main minor league team.and#8221;and#8212;Michael Cocchiarale, Aethlon
Review
"Blackout is the most complete analysis of Robinson's first spring training available as Lamb has probed the press reports to new depths and in the process revealed another facet of the two America's divided along racial lines. Blackout is also a volume that is essential to any understanding of the events of sixty years ago in Florida and their significance for baseball, for Florida, and for America."and#8212;Richard Crepeau, Sports Literature Association
Review
"Blackout is well written, engaging, and analytically sound. It is a work that belongs in all baseball libraries as well as those on American social history."and#8212;Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
Review
http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2013/04/ode-to-jackie-robinson.html
Review
andquot;A top-notch sports biography.andquot;andmdash;Kirkus starred review
Review
andquot;This revealing book, which makes an important contribution to sports and womenand#39;s history, will interest anyone curious about an overlooked segment of amateur athletics.andquot;andmdash;Craig Clark, Booklist
Review
andldquo;George Gmelch is an astute guide to the magic and mystery of the Minor Leagues in the 1960s, and Playing with Tigers belongs alongside baseball memoirs by Brosnan, Bouton, Jordan, and Hayhurst. Anyone who cares about the people who play the game should read this insightful and intelligent book.andrdquo;andmdash;Trey Strecker, editor of NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture
Review
andldquo;A poignant memoir about coming of age in and through baseball in the turbulent 1960s. Racial, gender, political, and identity conflictsandmdash;theyandrsquo;re all here, recounted by a gifted author.andrdquo;andmdash;Jean Ardell, author of Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime
Review
andldquo;A compelling glimpse into a vanished social world, the trials and tribulations of an aspiring Minor League Tiger, as well as the glimmerings of an insightful, productive social scientist who still loves and has a feel for the game.andrdquo;andmdash;Daniel A. Nathan, president of the North American Society for Sport History and author of Saying Itandrsquo;s So: A Cultural History of the Black Sox Scandaland#160;
Review
andldquo;A remarkable baseball story from an extraordinary anthropologist and writer.andrdquo;andmdash;Dan Gordon, author of Haunted Baseball
Review
andldquo;A completely engaging, insightful tour of a lost era of the 1960s in baseball and America. . . . A ballplayer-turned-anthropologist, Gmelch skillfully applies his ethnographic skills to his own experience. You donandrsquo;t have to be a baseball fan to want to read this fascinating, very personal, and often surprising story. Enthusiastically recommended.andrdquo;andmdash;Robert Elias, author of The Empire Strikes Outand#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;George Gmelch has written a true and compelling story of minor-league baseball in the 60s. . . . Itandrsquo;s an engaging and accurate portrait of the lives and work of minor-league hopefuls chasing the dream of making it to the Majors.andrdquo;andmdash;Jim Leyland, former major league manager of the Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, and Pittsburgh Pirates
Review
andquot;While much has been published about each player, the team, and the integration of baseball, never until now has this topic received its deserved treatment. This is an original and important book.andquot;andmdash;Spitball
Review
andquot;Read this book for its treasure trove of baseball history and because it is a damn good read.andquot;andmdash;G. Louis Heath, ARETE
Review
andquot;The Colonel and Hug explores that remarkably fruitful relationship in a meticulous account brimming with quotes from the period.andquot;andmdash;Edward Achorn, Weekly Standard
Review
andquot;The Colonel and Hug explains admirably how the Yankees became the Yankees. Steinberg and Spatz draw heavily on their research to provide a readable, lively narrative.andquot;andmdash;Bob Dand#39;Angelo, Tampa Tribune
Synopsis
As star players for the 1955 World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers, and prior to that as the first black players to be candidates to break professional baseballand#8217;s color barrier, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella would seem to be natural allies. But the two men were divided by a rivalry going far beyond the personality differences and petty jealousies of competitive teammates. Behind the bitterness were deep and differing beliefs about the fight for civil rights.and#160;
and#160;
Robinson, the more aggressive and intense of the two, thought Jim Crow should be attacked head-on; Campanella, more passive and easygoing, believed that ability, not militancy, was the key to racial equality. Drawing on interviews with former players such as Monte Irvin, Hank Aaron, Carl Erskine, and Don Zimmer, Jackie and Campy offers a closer look at these two players and their place in a historical movement torn between active defiance and passive resistance. William C. Kashatus deepens our understanding of these two baseball icons and civil rights pioneers and provides a clearer picture of their time and our own.
and#160;
and#160;
Synopsis
In 2010 twenty American women were selected to represent Team USA in the fourth Womenandrsquo;s Baseball World Cup in Caracas, Venezuela; most Americans, however, had no idea such a team even existed.and#160;A Game of Their Own chronicles the largely invisible history of women in baseball and offers an account of the 2010 Womenandrsquo;s World Cup tournament. Jennifer Ring includes oral histories of eleven members of the U.S. Womenandrsquo;s National Team, from the moment each player picked up a bat and ball as a young girl to her selection for Team USA. Each story is unique, but they share common themes that will resonate with young female players and fans alike: facing skepticism and taunts from players and parents when taking the batterandrsquo;s box or the pitcherandrsquo;s mound, self-doubt, the unceasing pressure to switch to softball, and eventual acceptance by their baseball teammates as they prove themselves as ballplayers. These racially, culturally, and economically diverse players from across the country have ignored the message that their love of the national pastime is andldquo;wrong.andrdquo; Their stories come alive as they recount their battles and most memorable moments playing baseballandmdash;the joys of exceeding expectations and the pleasure of honing baseball skills and talent despite the lack of support.and#160;With exclusive interviews with players, coaches, and administrators, A Game of Their Own celebrates the U.S. Womenandrsquo;s National Team and the excellence of its remarkable players. In response to the jeer andldquo;No girls allowed!andrdquo; these are powerful stories of optimism, feistiness, and staying true to oneself.
Synopsis
The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giantsand#8212;why do some baseball teams win while others donand#8217;t?
General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams.
Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about oneand#8217;s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage.
Synopsis
From the teamand#8217;s inception in 1903, the New York Yankees were a floundering group that played as second-class citizens to the New York Giants. With four winning seasons to date, the team was purchased in 1915 by Jacob Ruppert and his partner, Cap and#8220;Tiland#8221; Huston. Three years later, when Ruppert hired Miller Huggins as manager, the unlikely partnership of the two figures began, one that set into motion the Yankeesand#8217; run as the dominant baseball franchise of the 1920s and the rest of the twentieth century, capturing six American League pennants with Huggins at the helm and four more during Ruppertand#8217;s lifetime.
and#160;The Yankeesand#8217; success was driven by Ruppertand#8217;s executive style and enduring financial commitment, combined with Hugginsand#8217;s philosophy of continual improvement and personnel development. While Ruppert and Huggins had more than a little help from one of baseballand#8217;s greats, Babe Ruth, their close relationship has been overlooked in the Yankeesand#8217; rise to dominance. Though both were small of stature, the two men nonetheless became giants of the game with unassailable mutual trust and loyalty. The Colonel and Hug tells the story of how these two men transformed the Yankees. It also tells the larger story about baseball primarily in the tumultuous period from 1918 to 1929and#8212;with the end of the Deadball Era and the rise of the Lively Ball Era, a gambling scandal, and the collapse of baseballand#8217;s governing structureand#8212;and the significant role the Yankees played in it all. While the hitting of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig won many games for New York, Ruppert and Huggins institutionalized winning for the Yankees.
Synopsis
In the spring of 1946, following the defeat of Hitlerand#8217;s Germany, America found itself still struggling with the subtler but no less insidious tyrannies of racism and segregation at home. In the midst of it all, Jackie Robinson, a full year away from breaking major league baseballand#8217;s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, was undergoing a harrowing dress rehearsal for integrationand#8212;his first spring training as a minor league prospect with the Montreal Royals, Brooklynand#8217;s AAA team. In
Blackout, Chris Lamb tells what happened during these six weeks in segregated Floridaand#8212;six weeks that would become a critical juncture for the national pastime and for an American society on the threshold of a civil rights revolution.
Blackout chronicles Robinsonand#8217;s tremendous ordeal during that crucial spring trainingand#8212;how he struggled on the field and off. The restaurants and hotels that welcomed his white teammates were closed to him, and in one city after another he was prohibited from taking the field. Steeping his story in its complex cultural context, Lamb describes Robinsonand#8217;s determination and anxiety, the reaction of the black and white communities to his appearance, and the unique and influential role of the pressand#8212;mainstream reporting, the alternative black weeklies, and the Communist Daily Workerand#8212;in the integration of baseball. Told here in detail for the first time, this story brilliantly encapsulates the larger history of a man, a sport, and a nation on the verge of great and enduring change.
Synopsis
In 1965 George Gmelch signed a contract to play professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers organization. Growing up sheltered in an all-white, affluent San Francisco suburb, he knew little of the world outside. Over the next four seasons, he came of age in baseballandrsquo;s Minor Leagues through experiences ranging from learning the craft of the professional game to becoming conscious of race and class for the first time.
Playing with Tigers is not a typical baseball memoir. Now a well-known anthropologist, Gmelch recounts a baseball education unlike any other as he got to know small-town life across the United States against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, civil rights protests, and the emergence of the counterculture. The social and political turmoil of the times spilled into baseball, and Gmelch experienced the consequences firsthand as he played out his career in the Jim Crow South. Playing with Tigers captures the gritty, insular, and humorous life and culture of Minor League baseball during a period when both the author and the country were undergoing profound changes.
Drawing from journals he kept as a player, letters, and recent interviews with thirty former teammates, coaches, club officials, and even former girlfriends, Gmelch immerses the reader in the life of the Minor Leagues, capturingandmdash;in a manner his unique position makes possibleandmdash;the universal struggle of young athletes trying to make their way.
About the Author
Mark L. Armour is the author of Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball, the editor of The Great Eight: The 1975 Cincinnati Reds, and a coeditor of Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers: The 1970 Baltimore Orioles, all available from the University of Nebraska Press. Winner of the 2015 Bob Davids Award from the Society of American Baseball Research, Daniel R. Levitt is the author of Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankeesand#8217; First Dynasty (Nebraska, 2008) and The Battle that Forged Modern Baseball: The Federal League Challenge and Its Legacy. He is the coauthor (with Mark L. Armour) of Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way.