Chicago Aces: The First 75 Years (IL) (Images of Baseball)

Al Spalding was the first of many Chicago aces, leading the city's 1876 club to an inaugural National League Pennant with a 46-12 record and a whopping 528 innings pitched. Among the legendary pitchers to follow were Larry Corcoran, owner of two no-hitters with the White Stocking dynasty of the 1880s; Clark Griffith, who had six 20-win seasons in a row for a mediocre Orphans/Colts club in the 1890s; and "Rube" Foster, who dominated the Negro leagues of the early twentieth century. Also featured are Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown, Eddie Cicotte, Ed Walsh, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and many others. In Chicago Aces: The First 75 Years, readers will discover the compelling stories of these great pitchers, highlighted by over 100 rare and striking images.

Authors John Freyer and Mark Rucker have collaborated on two other Arcadia titles: 19th Century Baseball in Chicago and Chicago Sluggers: The First 75 Years. Both are native Chicagoans and members of the Society for American Baseball Research. Rucker owns one of the most extensive private collections of historic images in America, the Rucker Archives, and Freyer sits on the advisory board of the soon to open Chicago Baseball Museum.