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
“An intelligent, well-crafted account of an important period in the history of U.S.-Japan relations. Painstakingly researched, rich in color and detail, it goes beyond baseball, illuminating the social, economic, and political life of a distant era, the impact of which can still be seen today.”—Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa and The Meaning of Ichiro Bleacher Report
Review
“How did two nations that shared the values of the same national pastime go from baseballs to bullets? Historian Rob Fitts tells a dark tale of baseball caught between democracy and fascism in prewar Japan. Banzai Babe Ruth is a sayonara home run!”—John Thorn, official historian for Major League Baseball Robert Whiting
Review
“If I could have taken one road trip with anyone in the history of American sport, I think I would have traveled with Babe Ruth and the All American All-Stars on their 18-game tour of Japan in November of 1934. With the drumbeat growing louder and louder as World War II approached, with the Babe suddenly at loose ends near the end of his baseball career, and with home runs and innocence dwarfed by political machinations and suspicions, the trip played out like a B-movie potboiler. Luckily for us, Robert K. Fitts invites us along in Banzai Babe Ruth, his well-written chronicle of all that happened.”—Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth Leigh Montville
Review
“If I could have taken one road trip with anyone in the history of Am Leigh Montville
Review
"Fitts, a master at depicting all of the key elements in prewar Japanese social and political life, gives the reader valuable insights into the influential moderates trying to hold the line against the army, as well as the American ballplayers taking a victory lap in front of adoring foreign fans. This book is a powerful snapshot of men from two contrasting cultures attempting to stop a slide into aggression."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
"This dramatic story, equal parts baseball and history, should appeal to anyone interested in Japanese cultural and political history and the sports-politics nexus."and#8212;Library Journal
Review
"Fitts weaves history, political intrigue and baseball together as he reveals insights into Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earl Averill, Moe Berg, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Gomez and Connie Mack. . . . Banzai Babe Ruth is a unique work that makes us examine the greatest player of all time, the greatest game of all time and the greatest country of all time."—Harold Friend, Bleacher Report ForeWord Reviews
Review
"Banzai Babe Ruth is far more than just a sports story. . . . No one could have told this incredible story better than Robert K. Fitts."and#8212;ForeWord Reviews
Review
"The history lessons in Banzai Babe Ruth go well beyond merely chronicling the games and the players. This is a well-researched, fascinatingly told tale of two super powers whose shared passion for baseball wasn't enough to maintain the peace, though it did help to restore it in the years following World War II."and#8212;James Bailey, Baseball America
Review
"Banzai Babe Ruth reads like a multi-stranded mystery novel . . . . Fitts has an eye for the quirky details that make historical writing vivid."and#8212;Michael R. Stevens, Books and Culture
Review
"Banzai Babe deserves a spot in any baseball (or Japan) lover's library."and#8212;Robert Whiting, Wall Street Journal
Review
"Rob Fitts masterfully incorporates the 40-plus Japanese actors and American counterparts, detailing their various baseball, business, political and military concerns and motives."—Southern New England Chapter Society for American Baseball Research ForeWord Reviews
Review
andquot;Roberts Ehrgott has written a graceful, engrossing account of an era in which the Cubs, while already falling short of winning the World Series, built a national following in the age of flash, flappers, mobsters, molls, bank runs and breadlines.andquot;andmdash;Scott Simon, Chicago Tribune
Review
andquot;The Second City couldn't get enough of this team of assorted alcoholics, teetotalers, brawlers, carousers, fitness buffs and gamblers that captured two pennants and featured numerous eventual Hall of Famers. . . . An absolute must for any baseball fan's library.andquot;andmdash;Kirkus starred review
Review
andquot;A fun read . . . full of anecdote and color. Recommended for fans of the Cubs or Chicago or baseball history.andquot;andmdash;Library Journal
Review
andquot;What sets the book apart from many set in baseball is how Roberts Ehrgott handles the context in which the fun and games transpired. In the '20s, Chicago was certainly the Cubs, but it was also Al Capone, and, as Ehrgott writes, andquot;Chicagoans venturing to other parts of the country and abroad learned that their city was becoming a byword for mayhem and violence.andquot; . . . Chicago's dizzy baseball hopes and dreams seem especially poignant against the background of the onset of the Great Depression.andquot;andmdash;Bill Littlefield, Boston Globe
Review
"[Mr. Wrigley's Ball Club] is a smartly written, well-researched look at the Cubs from 1925 to 1932."and#8212;Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Tribune
Review
andquot;Roberts Ehrgott takes us back to the days when the Cubs were kings and Chicago was a growing, thrilling, dangerous melting pot of Al Capone, speakeasies, andquot;flappersandquot; and vaudeville in his meticulously researched and extremely well crafted new book.andquot;andmdash;Terry Keshner, Seamheads
Review
and#8220;Andy McCue has written the definitive biography of the fascinating and elusive Walter Oand#8217;Malley, the man who changed the way a country thinks about its national pastime. Wise and engaging. A must-read for every historian of the game.and#8221;and#8212;Michael Shapiro, author of The Last Good Season
Review
and#8220;A compelling, detailed and richly nuanced biography, Mover and Shaker shows Oand#8217;Malley as a shrewd and daring businessman who become a major force behind key changes in the sport. . . . The real insight of Mr. McCueand#8217;s book is that Oand#8217;Malley was a man who embraced risk and adapted well to new situations.and#8221;and#8212;Paul Dickson, Wall Street Journal
Review
"If you are interested in the details of baseball's backroom machinations during the 1940s to the 1970s; the blow by blow account of building Dodger Stadium and the true story of the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn, including a highly credible analysis of his motivation for moving his team and family across the country, then I highly recommend Moverand#160;and Shaker by Andy McCue."and#8212;Paul Hirsch, seamheads.com
Review
and#8220;The most versatile man I know; sports, music, writing, the law, he could do it all.and#8221;and#8212;Tim McCarver
Review
and#8220;When it came to baseball, Cashen had the magic touch.and#8221;and#8212;Nelson Doubleday Jr., former president of Doubleday and former owner of the New York Mets
Review
and#8220;Frank Cashen, through shrewd trades and organizational development, put together two of the most complete pitching staffs in baseball history. Through the use of both the numbers and his great appreciation of the eyes and ears of the game (the scouts), Mr. Cashen assembled iconic franchises. Orioles and Mets fans applaud.and#8221;and#8212;Ron Darling, New York Mets pitcher in the 1980s
Review
and#8220;Frank Cashen liked being a sportswriter, liked being a lawyer, liked running a brewery, but loved being a baseball general manager. He took his intellect, people skills, great judgment, and passion and became one of the best baseball GMs ever.and#8221;and#8212;Jim Palmer, broadcaster and Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher
Review
and#8220;Cashen is a hero to the little people in baseball. He believed in scouting and the Minor Leagues and persuaded the big league owners to provide a retirement plan for the forgotten people of baseball.and#8221;and#8212;Harry Minor, long-time New York Mets scout
Review
and#8220;Signal thanks to journalist Swift for this authoritative biography of Charles Albert Bender . . . . Swift sets aside the myths about this most famous American Indian player while vividly describing him in the context of the famed Carlisle Indian School, baseballand#8217;s Golden Age, Connie Mack and his Athletics, and the effects of gambling and alcoholism on sports.and#8221;and#8212;Library Journal, Starred Review
Review
and#8220;In Swiftand#8217;s hands, Benderand#8217;s life unfolds gradually, as though he were a character in a novel, and the prejudice he experienced, though never justified, is set within the context of the times. Carefully researchedand#8212;and documentedand#8212;as well as stylishly written (uncommon in the genre), this belongs in most baseball collections.and#8221;and#8212;Wes Lukowsky, Booklist
Review
and#8220;A gem. . . . [A] wonderful and impressively thorough new biography. . . . Swiftand#8217;s mission is to reassert Bender as an important figure in the history of the game, both as a player and a groundbreaking figure. His book does well in both ways.and#8221;and#8212;Kevin Canfield, Chicago Sun-Times
Review
and#8220;Fans of baseballand#8217;s Pre-Golden Age will appreciate the scholarship that went into Chief Benderand#8217;s Burden, Tom Swiftand#8217;s sad but sweet biography of the Native American pitcher . . . from the University of Nebraska Press, a constant source of quality baseball literature.and#8221;and#8212;Ron Kaplan, ForeWord
Review
and#8220;A fascinating study of the hardship and prejudice Bender endured, and the character he showed in the face of it all.and#8221;and#8212;Pat Borzi, MinnPost.com
Review
and#8220;A substantial, vivid story of one of the best pitchers of the gameand#8217;s early years.and#8221;and#8212;Mike Miliard, Boston Phoenix
Review
"I got to know Wally in 1977 while he was still managing the Dragons, but wish I had seen him play 25 years earlier. Reading this biography is the next best thing. [Robert] Fitts leaves no stories untold about Yonamine's life in this excellent book."and#8212;Wayne Graczyk, Japan Times
Review
"Fitts's expertise in Japanese baseball emerges throughout the narrative, as readers come to understand the evolution of baseball in Japan. Because the book covers such a broad time periodand#8212;Yonamine stayed in Japan as a player, coach, and manager for thirty-seven yearsand#8212;it serves as a great primer on the general historical evolution of Japanese baseball, seen through the career of Wally Yonamine."and#8212;Eric B. Salo, NINE
Review
"Extensively researched, well-written, and endlessly informative and fascinating, this book makes an excellent addition to anyone's baseball library and is absolutely required reading for anyone interested in Japanese-American baseball relations."and#8212;Michael Street, Baseball Daily Digest
Review
"A great read about a Japanese baseball player who has been too long overlooked."and#8212;L. A. Heapy, CHOICE
Review
"2005 Sporting News-SABR award winner Fitts deserves high marks for bringing forth this title sure to grasp pro football and baseball enthusiasts alike."and#8212;Southern New England Chapter Society for American Baseball Research
Review
"This is a must-read and a must-add to the bookshelf for those with an interest in the history of Japanese baseball, and a worthwhile read for any baseball fan looking to broaden their knowledge of this great game that has spread around the globe."and#8212;Pat Lagreid, Baseballbookreview.com
Review
"[Winning in Both Leagues] delivers a refreshingly compact and unpretentious change of pace."and#8212;Henry D. Fetter, Wall Street Journal
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
andldquo;The definitive and wonderfully told tale of a baseball icon. Mort Zachter has given Gil Hodges the biography he has long deserved.andrdquo;andmdash;Michael Shapiro, professor of journalism at Columbia University and author of
The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers and Their Final Pennant Race Togetherand#160;
Review
andldquo;Whether focusing on Hodges the Hoosier, the marine on Okinawa, the home runandndash;hitting slugger, or the Brooklynite on Bedford Avenue, Mort Zachter has given us Gil, right down to the nub of his Marlboro. His mincing steps to the mound are remembered along with the candles lit in church and the day Brooklynandrsquo;s heart skipped a beat with his. This one spikes high into your heart; the Hodges epic is a lesson in humanity for all seasons.andrdquo;andmdash;Bob McGee, author of The Greatest Ballpark Ever: Ebbets Field and the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgersand#160;
Review
andldquo;Zachter brings the same grace and precision to the page that Hodges brought to first base at Ebbets Field and with methodical research, insight, and pure affection gives life to the man behind the astounding stats, proving once and for all that Hodges truly belongs in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Kudos to Mort Zachter for giving a beloved Brooklyn legend his due.andrdquo;andmdash;Marty Markowitz, former Brooklyn Borough president
and#160;
Review
andldquo;As a Marine, one of Brooklynandrsquo;s beloved Boys of Summer, and the manager of the Miracle Mets, Gil Hodges lived a great American life, though one cut too short. In these pages you understand how Hodges defined what it meant to be a role model in a golden age.andrdquo;andmdash;Tom Verducci, senior writer for
Sports Illustratedand#160;
Review
and#8220;Mashi Murakamiand#8217;s impact can still be felt in baseball stadiums on both sides of the Pacific. He is a pioneer in every sense of the wordand#8212;a true ambassador for the game of baseball.and#8221;and#8212;Allan H. and#8220;Budand#8221; Selig, the ninth commissioner of baseball
Review
and#8220;Rob Fitts has fabulously transported us back to Mashiand#8217;s family roots, childhood passion for the grand game, and his trajectory to become the first Major Leaguer from Japan. It is a discovery and rediscovery of culture, baseball dynamics/politics, and the man who transcended the sport as a gigantic touchstone and#8216;pioneerand#8217; for future players from Asia.and#8221;and#8212;Kerry Yo Nakagawa, author of Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball
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;The author has an astounding facility with detail: The sheer number of names, dates and salaries he tosses around is mind-blowing, and the 18 informational tables in the appendix are worthy of inclusion in an economics textbook. . . . A labor of love of great value to Yankees fans and hard-core baseball junkies.and#8221;and#8212;
Kirkus ReviewsReview
and#8220;Substantive baseball history filtered through the career of one of the gameand#8217;s overlooked titans.and#8221;and#8212;Wes Lukowsky, Booklist
Review
"Levitt revisits the vexed matter of Sox owner Harry Frazeeand#8217;s motives in selling baseballand#8217;s greatest player to New York and, in so doing, debunks the previous debunking of Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson in 2000, in Red Sox Century. . . . Eight years ago Stout and Johnson convinced me of their views; today I am just as convinced by Levitt."and#8212;Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe
Review
and#8220;A captivating overview of baseball from the and#8216;20s through the and#8216;40s.and#8221;and#8212;Bill Madden, New York Daily News
Review
"[Ed Barrow] will undoubtedly go down as the definitive work on one of the most important baseball figures in the first half of the 20th century."and#8212;Rich Lederer, baseballanalytics.com
Review
"In Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty, author Daniel Levitt offers a well-detailed account of the great baseball man including his meteoric rise through the professional baseball world, the beginning of the Boston Red Sox's descent from championship status and what would become the legendary Yankee dynasty of the 1920s."and#8212;Anthony Basich, The Inside Game
Review
"The very best history includes a compelling story replete with seminal characters, provides thorough research (including extensive footnotes and bibliography) and combines a masterful understanding of the era with a vivid style. When a century-old subject continues to inspire debate and controversy, there's no doubt that the reading public anxiously awaits the definitive treatment from just the right author. Rick Huhn is that author, and The Chalmers Race is that subject."and#8212;Spitball
Review
"This book goes beyond baseball, also giving readers an understanding of America itself after the turn of the century. An excellent choice."and#8212;Library Journal starred review
Review
and#8220;It took more than a century, but weand#8217;ve finally got the book we deserve about baseballand#8217;s most infamous batting race. Thanks to Rick Huhn, it was worth the wait.and#8221;and#8212;Rob Neyer, national baseball editor of the website Baseball Nation.com
Review
and#8220;With graceful writing and exhaustive research, Huhn gives life to one of baseballand#8217;s great untold stories.and#8221;and#8212;Jon Wertheim, senior writer for Sports Illustrated
Review
and#8220;This is the kind of baseball history we need more ofand#8212;a book grounded in a great story, shaped by intelligent assessments of the evidence, committed to accuracy and truth-telling, and presented in vigorous prose.and#8221;and#8212;Reed Browning, author of Cy Young: A Baseball Life
Review
and#8220;
The Chalmers Race seamlessly weaves its compelling stories and is a deftly told saga of a game-changing and living controversy.and#8221;and#8212;Gerald C. Wood, author of
Smoky Joe Wood: The Biography of a Baseball LegendReview
"A well-researched, entertaining read."and#8212;Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Tribune
Review
"Whether you've heard the stories before, or whether some of the information is totally new, Cashen's is a good read."and#8212;Pete Kerzel,
Mid Atlantic Sports NetworkReview
"Clark, having called well over 3,000 MLB games, offers a perspective that is engaging as well as steeped in personal experience. It will be of interest to any baseball fan."and#8212;Brian Renvall, Library Journal
Review
andquot;Everything about Called Out But Safe is personal, and thank goodness for it.andquot;andmdash;Don Laible, Utica Observer-Dispatch
Review
and#8220;Al Clark never threw me out of a game, but Billy Martin wasnand#8217;t so fortunate. I not only witnessed his confrontations with Al but enjoyed remembering them in this book.and#8221;and#8212;Ron Blomberg, first designated hitter
Review
and#8220;Some of the nicest conversations Iand#8217;ve had in forty-two years of baseball have been with umpires. I loved any time spent with my friend Al Clark. Enjoy some great baseball stories from a man who once had a front-row seat in our great game.and#8221;and#8212;Chris Wheeler, Phillies broadcaster
Review
andquot;Mort Zachter captures the essence of Hodges in his biography.andquot;andmdash;Bob Dand#39;Angelo, Tampa Tribune
Review
and#8220;Russell Buhite makes a significant contribution to the rapidly growing scholarly work on baseballand#8217;s past.and#8221;and#8212;Charles C. Alexander, author of Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era
Review
and#8220;Russell Buhite, a former Minor League baseball player and an accomplished historian, is well equipped to provide this entertaining, informative, insightful, and personal account of Branch Rickeyand#8217;s abortive Continental League.and#8221;and#8212;James Giglio, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at Missouri State University and author of Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man
Review
"Of interest to any baseball fan who wants to know about the business side of the game's history."and#8212;Library Journal
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
Praise for Norman L. Machtandrsquo;s earlier volumes on Connie Mack:and#160;andldquo;A major addition to the study of the game and its longest-serving icon.andrdquo;andmdash;NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Cultureand#160;andldquo;As a catcher and manager, Connie Mack deserves much of the credit for writing andlsquo;The Bookandrsquo; on baseball strategy and the managing of men. How he did it all is told here for the first time.andrdquo;andmdash;Roland Hemond, three-time winner of Major League Baseballandrsquo;s Executive of the Year awardand#160;andldquo;A biography of Mack cannot help but be a history of baseball in the first half of the twentieth century, and this biography is a feast of interesting facts and judgments.andrdquo;andmdash;George F. Will, syndicated columnist and author of Men at Work: The Craft of Baseballand#160;andldquo;Like the man he continues to so capably chronicle, Norman Macht is astute, authoritative, and meticulous. If you want to learn about twentieth-century baseball, youandrsquo;ll have to read this book.andrdquo;andmdash;Bob Edmonds, McCormick Messengerand#160;
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
andldquo;Impeccably researched and finely judged,
The Grand Old Man of Baseball, the third volume of Norman Machtandrsquo;s definitive biography of Connie Mack, combines fascinating detail with narrative skill to dispel the uncertainty and confusion that has long surrounded the sale and relocation of the Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City, setting the record straight on what really happened.andrdquo;andmdash;Bob Warrington, Philadelphia baseball historian and author
Review
andquot;[An] excellent biography.andquot;andmdash;Jacqueline Cutler, Newark Star Ledger
Review
andquot;Fans who remember the Brooklyn Bums and the Miracle Mets will find this a must-read.andquot;andmdash;Jim Burns, Library Journal
Review
andquot;Mashi is a nice look at a man and career that deserved to be more than footnotes in baseball history.andquot;andmdash;Bob Dand#39;Angelo, Tampa Tribune
Review
andldquo;Absolutely fantastic. It was truly a pleasure to read.andrdquo;andmdash;Josh Lewin, New York Mets broadcaster and#160;
Review
andquot;Fitts, coupled with Murakamiand#39;s voice and experiences, tells the proud tale of a young man who was whisked into the spotlight and became a shining example of the equality that could be reached between the Japanese and Americans on the baseball diamond. Reading Mashi brings us all a few steps closer to what it was like to be there on this landmark journey.andquot;andmdash;Examiner
Review
andquot;Robert Fitts has undertaken a great task with this book.andquot;andmdash;Greggand#39;s Baseball Bookcase
Review
andquot;Mashi will take you along on his eventful ride from Yamanashi Prefecture to San Francisco.andquot;andmdash;Rashaad Jorden, JETwit.com
Synopsis
In November 1934 as the United States and Japan drifted toward war, a team of American League all-stars that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, future secret agent Moe Berg, and Connie Mack barnstormed across the Land of the Rising Sun. Hundreds of thousands of fans, many waving Japanese and American flags, welcomed the team with shouts of and#8220;
Banzai! Banzai, Babe Ruth!and#8221; The all-stars stayed for a month, playing 18 games, spawning professional baseball in Japan, and spreading goodwill.
Politicians on both sides of the Pacific hoped that the amity generated by the tourand#8212;and the two nationsand#8217; shared love of the gameand#8212;could help heal their growing political differences. But the Babe and baseball could not overcome Japanand#8217;s growing nationalism, as a bloody coup dand#8217;and#233;tat by young army officers and an assassination attempt by the ultranationalist War Gods Society jeopardized the tourand#8217;s success. A tale of international intrigue, espionage, attempted murder, and, of course, baseball, Banzai Babe Ruth is the first detailed account of the doomed attempt to reconcile the United States and Japan through the 1934 All American baseball tour. Robert K. Fitts provides a wonderful story about baseball, nationalism, and American and Japanese cultural history.
Synopsis
Chicago in the Roaring Twenties was a city of immigrants, mobsters, and flappers with one shared passion: the Chicago Cubs. It all began when the chewing-gum tycoon William Wrigley decided to build the worldand#8217;s greatest ball club in the nationand#8217;s Second City. In this Jazz Age center, the maverick Wrigley exploited the revolutionary technology of broadcasting to attract eager throngs of women to his renovated ballpark.
Mr. Wrigleyand#8217;s Ball Club transports us to this heady era of baseball history and introduces the team at its crazy heartand#8212;an amalgam of rakes, pranksters, schemers, and choirboys who take center stage in memorable successes, equally memorable disasters, and shadowy intrigue. Readers take front-row seats to meet Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rogers Hornsby, Joe McCarthy, Lewis and#8220;Hackand#8221; Wilson, Gabby Hartnett. The cast of characters also includes their colorful if less-extolled teammates and the Cubsand#8217; nemesis, Babe Ruth, who terminates the ambitions of Mr. Wrigleyand#8217;s ball club with one emphatic swing.
and#160;
Synopsis
One of the most influential and controversial team owners in professional sports history, Walter Oand#8217;Malley (1903and#8211;79) is best rememberedand#8212;and still reviled by manyand#8212;for moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Yet much of the Oand#8217;Malley story leading up to the Dodgersand#8217; move is unknown or created from myth, and there is substantially more to the man. When he entered the public eye, the self-constructed family background and early life he presented was gilded. Later his personal story was distorted by some New York sportswriters, who hated him for moving the Dodgers.and#160;and#160;
and#160;In Mover and Shaker Andy McCue presents for the first time an objective, complete, and nuanced account of Oand#8217;Malleyand#8217;s life. He also departs from the overly sentimentalized accounts of Oand#8217;Malley as either villain or angel and reveals him first and foremost as a rational, hardheaded businessman, who was a major force in baseball for three decades and whose management and marketing practices radically changed the shape of the game.
and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
In Winning in Both Leagues J. Frank Cashen looks back over his twenty-five-year career in baseball. Best known as the general manager of the New York Mets during their remaking and rise to glory in the 1980s, Cashen fills the pages with lively stories from his baseball tenure during the last half of the twentieth century. His career included a stint with the Baltimore Orioles of the late andrsquo;60s and andrsquo;70s, working with manager Earl Weaver and the great teams of the early andrsquo;70s, including such players as Jim Palmer, Frank Robinson, and Brooks Robinson. Later, tapped by Mets owner Nelson Doubleday Jr. to bring the Mets to the pinnacle of Major League Baseball, Cashen, with the rise of superstars Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, led the Mets to the thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Boston Red Sox leading to the World Series championship in 1986.and#160;
Winning in Both Leagues also chronicles the drafting of Billy Beane, who would later be the focus of the New York Times bestseller Moneyball. Cashen, who was a central figure in the fierce competition with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, excelled at building winning ball clubs and remains one of only two general managers ever to win a World Series in both leagues.
Synopsis
The greatest American Indian baseball player of all time, Charles Albert Bender, was, according to a contemporary, and#8220;the coolest pitcher in the game.and#8221; Using a trademark delivery, an impressive assortment of pitches that may have included the gameand#8217;s first slider, and an apparently unflappable demeanor, he earned a reputation as baseballand#8217;s great clutch pitcher during tight Deadball Era pennant races and in front of boisterous World Series crowds. More remarkably yet, and#8220;Chiefand#8221; Benderand#8217;s Hall of Fame career unfolded in the face of immeasurable prejudice. This skillfully told and complete account of Benderand#8217;s life is also a portrait of greatness of character maintained despite incredible pressureand#8212;of how a celebrated man thrived while carrying an untold weight on his shoulders.and#160;With a journalistand#8217;s eye for detail and a novelistand#8217;s feel for storytelling, Tom Swift takes readers on Benderand#8217;s improbable journeyand#8212;from his early years on the White Earth Reservation, to his development at the Carlisle Indian School, to his big break and eventual rise to the pinnacle of baseball. The story of a paradoxical American sports hero, one who achieved a once-unfathomable celebrity while suffering the harsh injustices of a racially intolerant world, Chief Benderand#8217;s Burden is an eye-opening and inspiring narrative of a unique American life.
Synopsis
Wally Yonamine was both the first Japanese American to play for an NFL franchise and the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II. This is the unlikely story of how a shy young man from the sugar plantations of Maui overcame prejudice to integrate two professional sports in two countries.and#160;In 1951 the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants chose Yonamine as the first American to play in Japan during the Allied occupation. He entered Japanese baseball when mistrust of Americans was highand#8212;and higher still for Japanese Americans whose parents had left the country a generation earlier. Without speaking the language, he helped introduce a hustling style of base running, shaking up the game for both Japanese players and fans. Along the way, Yonamine endured insults, dodged rocks thrown by fans, initiated riots, and was threatened by yakuza (the Japanese mafia). He also won batting titles, was named the 1957 MVP, coached and managed for twenty-five years, and was honored by the emperor of Japan. Overcoming bigotry and hardship on and off the field, Yonamine became a true national hero and a member of Japanand#8217;s Baseball Hall of Fame.
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
In descriptions of athletes, the word and#8220;heroand#8221; is bandied about and liberally attached to players with outstanding statistics and championship rings. Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life is the story of a man who epitomized heroism in its truest meaning, holding values and personal interactions to be of utmost importance throughout his lifeand#8212;on the diamond, as a marine in World War II, and in his personal and civic life. A New York City icon and, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, one of the finest first basemen of all time, Gil Hodges (1924and#8211;72) managed the Washington Senators and later the New York Mets, leading the 1969 and#8220;Miracle Metsand#8221; to a World Series championship. A beloved baseball star, Hodges was also an ethical figure whose sturdy values both on and off the field once prompted a Brooklyn priest to tell his congregation to and#8220;go home, and say a prayer for Gil Hodgesand#8221; in order to snap him out of the worst batting slump of his career.
Mort Zachter examines Hodgesand#8217;s playing and managing days, but perhaps more important, he unearths his true heroism by emphasizing the impact that Hodgesand#8217;s humanity had on those around him on a daily basis. Hodges was a witty man with a dry sense of humor, and his dignity and humble sacrifice sometimes masked a temper that made Joe Torre refer to him as the and#8220;Quiet Inferno.and#8221; The honesty and integrity that made him so popular to so many remained his defining elements. Firsthand interviews of the many soldiers, friends, family, former teammates, players, and managers who knew and respected Hodges bring the totality of his life into full view, providing a rounded appreciation for this great man and ballplayer.
Synopsis
In the spring of 1964, the Nankai Hawks of Japanand#8217;s Pacific League sent nineteen-year-old Masanori Murakami to the Class A Fresno Giants to improve his skills. To nearly everyoneand#8217;s surprise, Murakami, known as Mashi, dominated the American hitters. With the San Francisco Giants caught in a close pennant race and desperate for a left-handed reliever, Masanori was called up to join the big league club, becoming the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues.
Featuring pinpoint control, a devastating curveball, and a friendly smile, Mashi became the Giantsand#8217; top lefty reliever and one of the teamand#8217;s most popular playersand#8212;as well as a national hero in Japan. Not surprisingly, the Giants offered him a contract for the 1965 season. Murakami signed, announcing that he would be thrilled to stay in San Francisco. There was just one problem: the Nankai Hawks still owned his contract.
The dispute over Murakamiand#8217;s contract would ignite an international incident that ultimately prevented other Japanese players from joining the Majors for thirty years. Mashi is the story of an unlikely hero who gets caught up in an American and Japanese baseball dispute and is forced to choose between his dreams in the United States or his duty in Japan.
Synopsis
Before the feuding owners turned to Ed Barrow to be general manager in 1920, the Yankees had never won a pennant. They won their first in 1921 and during Barrowand#8217;s tenure went on to win thirteen more as well as ten World Series. This biography of the incomparable Barrow is also the story of how he built the most successful sports franchise in American history.and#160;Barrow spent fifty years in baseball. He was in the middle of virtually every major conflict and held practically every job except player. Daniel R. Levitt describes Barrow's pre-Yankees years, when he managed Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox to their last World Series Championship before the and#8220;curse.and#8221; He then details how Barrow assembled a winning Yankees team both by purchasing players outright and by developing talent through a farm system.and#160;The story of the making of the great Yankees dynasty reveals Barrowand#8217;s genius for organizing, for recognizing baseball talent, and for exploiting the existing economic environment. Because Barrow was a player in so many of baseballand#8217;s key events, his biography gives a clear and eye-opening picture of how Americaand#8217;s sport was played in the twentieth century, on the field and off. A complex portrait of a larger-than-life character in the annals of baseball, this book is also an inside history of how the sportand#8217;s competitive environment evolved and how the Yankees came to dominate it.
Synopsis
In 1910 auto magnate Hugh Chalmers offered an automobile to the baseball player with the highest batting average that season. What followed was a batting race unlike any before or since, between the greatest but most despised hitter, Detroitand#8217;s Ty Cobb, and the American Leagueand#8217;s first superstar, Clevelandand#8217;s popular Napoleon Lajoie.
The Chalmers Race captures the excitement of this strange contestand#8212;one that has yet to be resolved.
and#160;The race came down to the last game of the season, igniting more interest among fans than the World Series and becoming a national obsession. Rick Huhn re-creates the drama that ensued when Cobb, thinking the prize safely his, skipped the last two games, and Lajoie suspiciously had eight hits in a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns. Although initial counts favored Lajoie, American League president Ban Johnson, the sportand#8217;s last word, announced Cobb the winner, and amid the controversy both players received cars. The Chalmers Race details a story of dubious scorekeeping and statistical systems, of performances and personalities in conflict, of accurate results coming in seventy years too late, and of a contest settled not by play on the field but by human foibles.
and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
If an umpire could steal the show in a Major League game, Al Clark might well have been the one to do it. Tough but fair, in his thirty years as a professional umpire he took on some of baseballand#8217;s great umpire baiters, such as Earl Weaver, Billy Martin, and Dick Williams, while ejecting any number of the gameand#8217;s eliteand#8212;once tearing a hamstring in the process. He was the first Jewish umpire in American League history, and probably the first to eject his own father from the officialsand#8217; dressing room. But whatever Clark was doingand#8212;officiating at Nolan Ryanand#8217;s three hundredth win, Cal Ripkenand#8217;s record breaker, or the and#8220;earthquakeand#8221; World Series of 1989, or braving a labor dispute, an anti-Semitic tirade by a Cy Young Award winner, or a legal imbroglioand#8212;it makes for a good story.
and#160;Called Out but Safe is Clarkand#8217;s outspoken and often hilarious account of his life in baseball from umpire school through the highlights to the inglorious end of his stellar career. Not just a source of baseball history and lore, Clarkand#8217;s book also affords a rare look at what life is like for someone who works for the Major Leaguesand#8217; other team.and#160;
and#160;
Synopsis
Long before there was
Moneyball, a group of investors led by baseball legend Branch Rickey proposed a new economic model for baseball. Based on an innovative approach to evaluating and developing talent, the Continental League was the last serious attempt to form a third Major League. The leagueand#8217;s brief history affords a glimpse of any number of missed chances for Americaand#8217;s game.
and#160;As one of the original Continental Leaguers, historian Russell D. Buhite isand#8212;literallyand#8212;talking and#8220;inside baseballand#8221; when he describes what happened in 1959 and 1960. Part memoir, part history, his account of the origin, development, and eventual undoing of the Continental League explores the organizationand#8217;s collective corporate structure as well as its significant role in building a thriving Minor League and forcing expansion on Major League Baseball. Buhite captures a lost era in baseball history and examines its lasting impact on the game.
and#160;
Synopsis
In
The Grand Old Man of Baseball, Norman L. Macht chronicles Connie Mackandrsquo;s tumultuous final two decades in baseball. After Mack had built one of baseballandrsquo;s greatest teams, the 1929andndash;31 Philadelphia Athletics, the Depression that followed the stock market crash fundamentally reshaped Mackandrsquo;s legacy as his team struggled on the field and at the gate. Among the challenges Mack faced: a sharp drop in attendance that forced him to sell his star players; the rise of the farm system, which he was slow to adopt; the opposition of other owners to night games, which he favored; the postwar integration of baseball, which he initially opposed; a split between the teamandrsquo;s heirs (Mackandrsquo;s sons Roy and Earle on one side, their half brother Connie Jr. on the other) that tore apart the family and forced Mack to chooseandmdash;unwiselyandmdash;between them; and, finally, the disastrous 1951andndash;54 seasons in which Roy and Earle ran the club to the brink of bankruptcy.
and#160;By now aged and mentally infirm, Mack watched in bewilderment as the business he had built fell apart. Broke and in debt, Roy and Earle feuded over the sale of the team. In a never-before-revealed series of maneuvers, Roy double-crossed his father and brother and the team was sold and moved to Kansas City in 1954.and#160;In Machtandrsquo;s third volume of his trilogy on Mack, he describes the physical, mental, and financial decline of Mackandrsquo;s final years, which unfortunately became a classic American tragedy.
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
George Gmelch is a professor of anthropology at the University of San Francisco and at Union College in Schenectady, New York. He is the author of a dozenand#160;books, including In the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People, with J. J. Weiner (Bison Books, 2006), and Inside Pitch: Life in Professional Baseball (Bison Books, 2006) and is the editor of Baseball without Borders: The International Pastime (Nebraska, 2006). His work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Psychology Today, Society, and Natural History.