Baseball A History of America's Favorite Game |
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| Author:
| Vecsey, George |
| Series title: | Modern Library Chronicles Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8129-7870-4 |
| Publication Date: | Mar 2008 |
| Publisher: | Random House Publishing Group
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| Imprint: | Modern Library |
| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | USD $17.00 |
Book Description:
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"Football is force and fanatics, basketball is beauty and bounce. Baseball is everything- action, grace, the seasons of our lives. George Vecsey's book proves it, without wasting a word."-Lee Eisenberg, author of The Number In Baseball, one of the great bards of America's Grand Old Game gives a rousing account of the sport, from its pre-Republic roots to the present day. George Vecsey casts a fresh eye on the game, illuminates its foibles and...
More Description "Football is force and fanatics, basketball is beauty and bounce. Baseball is everything- action, grace, the seasons of our lives. George Vecsey's book proves it, without wasting a word."-Lee Eisenberg, author of The Number
In Baseball, one of the great bards of America's Grand Old Game gives a rousing account of the sport, from its pre-Republic roots to the present day. George Vecsey casts a fresh eye on the game, illuminates its foibles and triumphs, and performs a marvelous feat- making a classic story seem refreshingly new.
Baseball is a narrative of America's can-do spirit, in which stalwart immigrants such as Henry Chadwick could transplant cricket and rounders into the fertile American culture and in which die-hard unionist baseballers such as Charles Comiskey and Connie Mack could eventually become the tightfisted avatars of the game's big-money establishment. It's a celebration of such underdogs as a rag-armed catcher turned owner named Branch Rickey and a sure-handed fielder named Curt Flood, both of whom flourished as true great men of history. But most of all, Baseball is a testament to the unbreakable bond between our nation's pastime and the fans, who've remained loyal through the fifty-year-long interdict on black athletes, the Black Sox scandal, franchise relocation, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs by some major stars.
Reverent, playful, and filled with Vecsey's charm, Baseball begs to be read in the span of a rain-delayed doubleheader, and so enjoyable that, like a favorite team's championship run, one hopes it never ends.
"Vecsey possesses a journalist's eye for detail and a historian's feel for the sweep of action. His research is scrupulous and his writing crisp. This book is an instant classic-a highly readable guide to America's great enduring pastime."-The Louisville Courier Journal