One of early baseball's most popular celebrities, Arlie Latham played for the St. Louis Browns in the 1880s. A brainy hitter and base-runner, he was also the sport's brashest, funniest player, his "fresh" personality bringing him as much trouble as reward. He played with the 19th century's greatest names, and was friends with everyone from King Kelly to King George V. He parlayed his stardom into a vaudeville career and the first official major league coaching job. In his fifties he carried the game he loved into world war to cheer Allied troops and in his seventies went to work for the Yankees. Arlie Latham's baseball odyssey is made more compelling by the parade of players, gamblers, boxers, actors, women and mascots that passes through it, providing a unique glimpse into America's game and the people who loved it.

The Baseball Hall of Shame 4 contains more than 100 absurd, offbeat and hysterically funny stories proving that on the playing field and in the ballpark, truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

"National League players planned revolt as the crowds swelled, hoping to take advantage of baseball's growing popularity. The season became, as one sportswriter said, something approaching a Lobster-Frankenstein nightmare."--BOOK JACKET.

On a sunny Fourth of July during World War I, King George V went out to a ball game. Along with Queen Mary and other royalty, Winston Churchill, dozens of VIPs, thousands of troops and ordinary Londoners, the monarch cheered an extraordinary "baseball match" between American soldiers and sailors. This historic event helped solidify the transatlantic alliance that was vital to winning the war. The game itself was a thriller, reported throughout the English-speaking world. The players ranged from kids fresh off the sandlots to a handful of major and minor leaguers and a future Hall of Famer. The two veteran pitchers went the distance, the outcome in doubt until the last batter. Drawing on American and British sources and game-day coverage, this first-ever full account of the "King's game" records every play and explores the lives of several players. The author provides a brief history of the Anglo-American Baseball League and armed forces baseball played in England, France and the United States during the Great War.

First published in 1948, Lee Allen's history of the Reds, like Franklin Lewis's history of the Cleveland Indians, was originally published by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Allen narrates the historic organization's success, beginning shortly after the Civil War with baseball's rising popularity among Cincinnati's elite. Eventually, as interest increased, America's first professional baseball team was established in 1868 - Cincinnati's Red Stockings. The Cincinnati Reds chronicles each season from the organization's early years, most notably the 1882 American Association pennant and the 1919 and 1940 National League pennants, and World Series championships, including the infamous Chicago White Sox scandal. Allen retells many of the early Reds stories likely forgotten or unknown by today's fans. This book is as thorough as it is absorbing, and will be enjoyed by those interested in the early days of America's favourite passtime.

After talks with baseball's owners broke down in the fall of 1889, some of the greatest players of the day jumped their contracts and declared open revolt against the American Association and National League. Tired of life under the hated reserve clause, which bound players to their teams and left them with no bargaining power, John Montgomery Ward and some 140 others set out to form a rival major league. The Players League would last only a season and end quite badly for both the players and the American Association, which folded a year later; but as a representation of the first major battle between the players and owners, the league occupies an important place in baseball history. This remarkably comprehensive book opens with an historical introduction to the league, including detailed information about its origins and failure. A biographical dictionary follows, with entries for every player in the league's brief tenure and additional profiles of prominent players who chose not to dignify the revolt with their participation. Profiles of the teams are also included.

Gives anecdotes about the less glorified personalities and events in the game of baseball.