Official Baseball Guide for 1965

Format is approximately 4,75 inches by 6.625 inches. 480 pages. Illustrated covers. Illustrations. Tabular data. Cover has some wear and soiling. The copyright is held by The Sporting News. This is organized as follows: Directory of Organized Baseball; Directory of American League, Review of 1964 American League Season, Weekly Graph of 1964 American League Race, American League Averages for 1964, Director of National League, Review of 1964 National League Season, Weekly Graph of 1964 National League Race,National League Averages for 1964, General Review of the Year, World Series, All-Star Game, Major League Attendance, Batting Feats of 1964, Pitching Feats of 1964, Most Valuable Player Selections, Relief Pitchers' Ratings, Hall of Fame, Hotels of Major League Clubs, Necrology for 1964, American Legion Baseball, Major League Farm Systems, Minor League Averages for 1964, Index. C. C. Johnson Spink was the last publisher from the family that founded The Sporting News. Spink, who had no children, had said his decision to sell the publication was made on his 60th birthday while he was shaving and wondering what might happen to The Sporting News and its employees if he were to be killed in traffic on his way to work. Spink was the great-nephew of Alfred G. Spink, who created the weekly in 1886. He succeeded his great-uncle, his grandfather, Charles C. Spink, and his father, J. G. Taylor Spink, as editor and publisher. He took over The Sporting News, expanding its coverage and brightening its appearance, in 1962, and remained a consultant to Times Mirror until 1987. March 17, 1886: The Sporting News (TSN), founded in St. Louis by Alfred H. Spink, a director of the St. Louis Browns baseball team, publishes its first edition. The weekly newspaper sells for 5 cents. Baseball, horse racing and professional wrestling received the most coverage in the first issue. Meanwhile, the sporting weeklies Clipper and Sporting Life were based in New York and Philadelphia. By World War I, TSN would be the only national baseball newspaper. 1901: The American League, another rival to baseball's National League, begins playing. TSN was a vocal supporter of the new league and its founder, Ban Johnson. Both parties advocated cleaning up the sport, in particular ridding it of liquor sales, gambling and assaults on umpires. 1903: TSN editor Arthur Flanner helps draft the National Agreement, a document that brought a truce between the AL and NL and helped bring about the modern World Series. 1904: New York photographer Charles Conlon begins taking portraits of major league players as they pass through the city's three ballparks: the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field. His images, many of which were featured in TSN, have become treasured symbols of baseball's past. 1914: Alfred's son, J.G. Taylor Spink, takes over the paper. 1936: TSN names its first major league Sporting News Player of the Year Award, Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants. It is the oldest and most prestigious award given to the single player in MLB who had the most outstanding season. To this day, it remains voted on by MLB players. 1962: J.G. Taylor Spink dies. His son C.C. Johnson Spink takes over the publication. In 1962, after Spink's death, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) instituted the J. G. Taylor Spink Award as the highest award given to its members. Spink was also the first recipient. 1967: TSN publishes its first full-color photo, a cover image of Orioles star Frank Robinson.…