Baseball
The Golden Age
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
In Baseball: The Golden Age, Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills explore the glorious era when the game truly captured the American imagination, with such legendary figures as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb in the spotlight.
Beginning with the formation of the two major leagues in 1903, when baseball officially entered its "golden age" of popularity, the authors examine the changes in the organization of professional baseball--from an unwieldy three-man commission to the strong one-man rule of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. They depicts how the play on the field shifted from the low-scoring, pitcher-dominated game of the "dead ball" era before World War I to the higher scoring of the 1920's "lively ball" era, with emphasis on home runs, best exemplified by the exploits of Babe Ruth.
Note: On August 2, 2010, Oxford University Press made public that it would credit Dorothy Seymour Mills as co-author of the three baseball histories previously "authored" solely by her late husband, Harold Seymour. The Seymours collaborated on Baseball: The Early Years (1960), Baseball: The Golden Age (1971) and Baseball: The People's Game (1991).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the third book of a projected four-volume series--which may well become the definitive history of our national pastime--Seymour ( Baseball: The Golden Age ) writes of baseball as a people's game. Himself a former Brooklyn Dodgers batboy (circa 1927), the author looks first at the game as played by children on sandlots and in schools, boys' clubs and even reform schools, concluding--unsurprisingly--that even at its most ragtag, baseball is an important part of growing up American. He claims that playing the game often spurred the assimilation of young immigrants, although its effectiveness in reforming juvenile delinquents is more debatable. Seymour also weighs baseball's role at the college level, where nonstudents have often been recruited and even professional players have been hired, as well as considering adult versions of the sport--town teams, industrial leagues, semi-pro ball and baseball in the armed forces, which has spread the game worldwide. Impressively researched and delightful to read, this third installment of his opus is enlivened by Seymour's many wry asides. Photos not seen by PW .
