Full Description
As the Civil War ended, the thoughts of many Northern soldiers turned to a game that some had learned about for the first time during the war--baseball. Their newfound interest in the sport, combined with the postwar economic boom and the resultant growth of many cities, took the game from one practiced by a few amateur clubs in New York City before the war to a professional sport covering almost the entire northeastern United States.
Researched from primary sources, the game of the late 1860s is described season-by-season: the fields, the crowds, the strategy, the rules, the style of play, and the confusing struggles to crown a national champion, with all the chicanery and machinations of the contenders. Such landmark events as the Washington Nationals' pioneering 1867 tour and the Cincinnati Red Stockings' undefeated 1869 season are covered.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
1 Taunting on the Old Ball Ground: August 23, 1860
2 Keep Your Eye on the Ball: Origins of Baseball
3 When Johnny Came Marching Home
4 The Ladies They Will All Turn Out
5 Playing the Points
6 The Only Game in Town
7 Now We're Off
8 Wansley and McKeever
9 A Country Club
10 A Riot in Philadelphia
11 Separate and Unequal
12 Farewell, New York
13 Every Man a King
14 When We Went Westward Ho
15 The Unions Forever
16 The Father of the Game and His Prodigal Sons
17 They All Went Westward Ho
18 The Gold Ball
19 Open Professionalism
20 The Red Stockings
21 The Glorious Season
22 The Gold Ball, Part Two
23 The Eighteen Thousand Dollar Nine
24 Though Beaten, Not Disgraced
25 Another Championship Squabble
26 Disgraced
27 Grand Central Hotel
Appendix A: Team Rosters
Appendix B: Methods of Compensation, 1870
Appendix C: Records of Philadelphia Athletics and Brooklyn Atlantics
Appendix D: Results from Noteworthy Tours
Notes
Bibliography
Index
