During the Civil War, Americans from homefront to battlefront played baseball as never before. While soldiers slaughtered each other over the country's fate, players and fans struggled over the form of the national pastime. George Kirsch gives us a color commentary of the growth and transformation of baseball during the Civil War. He shows that the game was a vital part of the lives of many a soldier and civilian--and that baseball's popularity had everything to do with surging American nationalism. By 1860, baseball was poised to emerge as the American sport. Clubs in northeastern and a few southern cities played various forms of the game. Newspapers published statistics, and governing bodies set rules. But the Civil War years proved crucial in securing the game's place in the American heart. Soldiers with bats in their rucksacks spread baseball to training camps, war prisons, and even front lines. As nationalist fervor heightened, baseball became patriotic. Fans honored it with the title of national pastime. War metaphors were commonplace in sports reporting, and charity games were scheduled. Decades later, Union general Abner Doubleday would be credited (wrongly) with baseball's invention. The Civil War period also saw key developments in the sport itself, including the spread of the New York-style of play, the advent of revised pitching rules, and the growth of commercialism. Kirsch recounts vivid stories of great players and describes soldiers playing ball to relieve boredom. He introduces entrepreneurs who preached the gospel of baseball, boosted female attendance, and found new ways to make money. We witness bitterly contested championships that enthralled whole cities. We watch African Americans embracing baseball despite official exclusion. And we see legends spring from the pens of early sportswriters. Rich with anecdotes and surprising facts, this narrative of baseball's coming-of-age reveals the remarkable extent to which America's national pastime is bound up with the country's defining event.

The life and times of the extraordinary Octavius Catto, and the first civil rights movement in America.

'Baseball and Cricket' places the growing popularity of the two sports within the social context of mid 19th century American cities. The text follows baseball's transition from a leisure sport to a commercialised, professional enterprise and offers a discussion of the early American cricket clubs.

This edition of The Redheaded Outfield and Other Baseball Stories by Zane Grey is given by Ashed Phoenix - Million Book Edition

Billy, a budding young baseball with unsuitable stitches of blue, is head over heels for America’s national pastime. The sights, the sounds, the smells—he loves it all. Billy has big dreams of playing in the big leagues, but without the proper red stitches, he’s left feeling lonely on the bench. With his wise grandfather to guide him, can Billy overcome his fears to learn one of life’s greatest lessons and make it to the show? Young children will love this timeless tale of dreaming big, rising above naysayers, and finding happiness and peace within a personal journey.

Base Ball in a River Town seeks to answer how our national pastime started in New Albany. Who were its founders? Who got the ball rolling across the New Albany fields? The answers to these questions open a window into the past-the lively and booming post-Civil War New Albany. From steamships to railroads, the first team experienced the end of one era and the start of another. The growth of baseball in New Albany also mirrors the rise of baseball across the country. From its infancy to national past time in no time. Learn about the first pitch thrown at the first official game on September 29, 1866, and join that unbroken line of young Southern Indiana men and women who have embraced our national past-time.