The first in a series of baseball histories by the game??'s best historians

"Three years after the release of the first volume of the series, Deadball Stars of the National League, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and Potomac Books are publishing its companion volume. Return to the period when "inside baseball" meant a game of bunting, stealing, and using a sodden, tobacco-stained ball few players could hit out of the oddly configured urban ballparks of another age. Where the initial volume introduced readers to one of the most colorful and important periods in baseball history, this volume explores the lives and performances of the stars, regulars, and major figures in the upstart junior circuit. Guided by expert contributors from SABR, fans will learn about the eight teams that banded together to challenge the National League and become the second major league. Readers will learn about the great team that Connie Mack built in Philadelphia and about the famed outfield duo of Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford in Detroit. They will also read the stories of the players who won the World Series in Chicago in 1917 before they became infamous as the Black Sox in the 1919 Series. Lavishly illustrated, Deadball Stars of the American League features more than 200 photographs and the autographs of all of the players profiled. It is a unique resource for a defining era of baseball history."--Publisher's website.

This work seeks to address an often ignored factor in the study of early 20th century baseball, namely, what was the ballpark like? The author uses original research to answer this question.

The Deadball Era (1901û1920) is a baseball fanÆs dream. Hope and despair, innocence and cynicism, and levity and hostility blended then to create an air of excitement, anticipation, and concern for all who entered the confines of a major league ballpark. Cheating for the sake of victory earned respect, corrupt ballplayers fixed games with impunity, and violence plagued the sport. Spectators stormed the field to attack players and umpires, ballplayers charged the stands to pummel hecklers, and physical battles between opposing clubs occurred regularly in a phenomenon known as ôrowdyism.ö At the same time, endearing practices infused baseball with lightheartedness, kindness, and laughter. Fans ran onto the field with baskets of flowers, loving cups, diamond jewelry, gold watches, and cash for their favorite players in the middle of games. Ballplayers volunteered for ôbenefit contestsö to aid fellow big leaguers and the country in times of need. ôJoke gamesö reduced sport to pure theater as outfielders intentionally dropped fly balls, infielders happily booted easy grounders, hurlers tossed soft pitches over the middle of the plate, and umpires ignored the rules. Winning meant nothing, amusement meant everything, and league officials looked the other way. Mark Halfon looks at life in the major leagues in the early 1900s, the careers of John McGraw, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson, and the events that brought about the end of the Deadball Era. He highlights the strategies, underhanded tactics, and bitter battles that defined this storied time in baseball history, while providing detailed insights into the players and teams involved in bringing to a conclusion this remarkable period in baseball history.

The typical baseball fan yearns for one of two things: a strikeout or a home run. But most of the game takes place in between these electrifying moments, and this book discusses the importance of "small ball" to baseball. It examines the multitude of times small ball activities have secured victories through aggressive base running, sacrifice hits, squeeze bunts, stolen bases, productive outs and hit-and-run plays, as well as games in which aggressive small ball activity led to defeat. The book covers the most important small ball players, managers and teams.

The Chalmers Race is the story of Ty Cobb and Napoleon Lajoie and the controversial 1910 batting race.

The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants--why do some baseball teams win while others don't? General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams. Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one's circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage. Purchase the audio edition.