Full Description
The Golden Game presents in words and pictures 150 years of baseball history, from sandlot ball in the 1850s and the Pacific Coast League to the western arrival of the Dodgers, Giants, Angels, Athletics, and Padres. Here is a stirring, colorfully written narrative about the state that has been the birthplace and proving ground for more Major Leaguers than any other, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Jackie Robinson. Blending U.S. and California history as a backdrop to a narrative rich with anecdotes, The Golden Game reveals the significant impact that California has had on baseball history.
Written not just for Californians but for all baseball fans, The Golden Game goes beyond its geographic boundaries to tell the fascinating saga of California baseball and how it has indelibly shaped the national pastime.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Foreword
Introduction
1. The Seed Is Planted
2. Stagecoach Baseball
3. Enter the Professionals
4. How Casey Advanced to the Bat
5. Train Ride South
6. From Robinson to Lange to Chance
7. A Brand-New Ballgame
8. A Ballpark Blooms in San Francisco
9. The Los Angeles Mix, Winter 1908
10. Schoolboys
11. Playgrounds
12. A Left-Hander for the Oaks
13. There Was a Crooked Man
14. The Pride of Their Community
15. Babe Ruth in California
16. An Experiment in Sound and Light
17. Barnstormers
18. In the Shadows of War
19. Joe, Ted, Jackie
20. War Games
21. Breakthrough
22. Golden Boys
23. In a Corner of the United States
24. Casey, Billy, and the Yanks
25. Brown Derby Baseball
26. They Changed the Game
27. Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants, April 1958
28. The Last Days of Ty Cobb
29. The Cowboy Rides In
30. The Next Generation
31. 1969
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Source Notes
Bibliography
Index
