Synopses & Reviews
In its infancy, major league baseball was anyoneand#8217;s game, open to a dizzying array of rogues and scamps, athletic giants and captains of industry, hustlers, managers, and umpires who transformed club-based teams into the first professional federations with formalized rulesand#8212;and commercial considerations. This two-volume workand#8212;with its profiles of every key contributor to the major league game from May 4, 1871, through December 31, 1900and#8212;is truly and#8220;inside baseball.and#8221;and#160;
and#160;Volume 1 profiles all the key position players and pitchers of the nineteenth century, giving detailed information about each playerand#8217;s role in the game, his debut and finale, high points and low, most important achievements, relationship to ground-breaking diamond occurrences, in addition toand#160;fascinating personal information.and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;More than a collection of mere facts and statistics, Major League Baseball Profiles provides a unique history of the evolution of major league baseball, from the date of the first major league game in 1871 through the 1900 season, which marked not only the close of a century but also the unofficial end of what many believe to be the formative period of the game.
Review
and#8220;David Nemec belongs in the Hall of Fame of early baseball research. Here, he uses a wealth of fascinating details to breathe life back into many little-known nineteenth-century ballplayers whose exploits and, at times, sheer grit are well worth remembering and celebrating.and#8221;and#8212;Edward Achorn, author of Fifty-Nine in and#8217;84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had
Review
and#8220;Whether you are a newcomer to the wonderful world of nineteenth-century baseball or consider yourself to be an expert, you will learn much in this wonderful collection of biographical sketches. While other books have focused on the great pennant races or teams of the era, no book so vividly presents the colorful stories of so many players as these two volumes do. You will be entertained, and you will be smarter, once you spend some time with these books.and#8221;and#8212;Mark Armour, chairman of SABRand#8217;s Baseball Biography Project and author of Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball
Review
"Nemec's books are wonderful . . . . I can see this book becoming as invaluable a resource to me as The Baseball Encyclopediaand#8212;something that will entertain and inform me for the rest of my life."and#8212;Pete Croatto, Biblio Buffet
Review
"Major League Baseball Profiles provides a fascinating and unique view of the scores of individuals who played a role in laying the foundation for the modern game. It is an indispensible resource for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the formative years of big-league baseball."and#8212;Jim Frutchey, Booklist
Review
"Nemec and his team of writers/researchers have created a two-volume extravaganza of nineteenth century baseball biography that will be the definitive work for the foreseeable future and beyond."and#8212;Big Bad Baseball
About the Author
David Nemec is the author of twenty-three baseball books, including The Great Encyclopedia of 19th-Century Major League Baseball, winner of the Sporting News SABR Baseball Research Award.