Baseball: A History of America's Game (Illinois History of Sports) - Softcover

Rader, Benjamin G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0252075501 ISBN 13: 9780252075506

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2008

Synopsis

In this third edition of his lively history of America's game--widely recognized as the best of its kind--Benjamin G. Rader expands his scope to include commentary on Major League Baseball through the 2006 season: record crowds and record income, construction of new ballparks, a change in the strike zone, a surge in recruiting Japanese players, and an emerging cadre of explosive long-ball hitters.

About this title

About the Author:

Benjamin G. Rader is James L. Sellers Professor of History at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and the author of American Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports.

From Library Journal:

With most of today's baseball books concentrating on very specific aspects of the sport, it is interesting to find one that attempts to relate the complete history of America's game. Beginning before the Civil War, Rader traces the development of rules in the 1890s, the advent of the home run in the 1920s, the breakdown of the color barrier in the 1940s, and the problems of expansion and free agency in our own era. Along with profiles of well-known personalities like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, and familiar events such as the Black Sox scandal of 1919, this thoroughly researched book presents some unusual facts (including information on Harry H. Freeman's barnstorming "buxom beauties," an all-female pro team that played some 60 years before the women of the current film A League of Their Own ). This volume is highly recommended for most libraries.
-Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0252075501
• ISBN 13: 9780252075506
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 296