Baseball
The Early Years
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
Now available in paperback, Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills' Baseball: The Early Years recounts the true story of how baseball came into being and how it developed into a highly organized business and social institution.
The Early Years, traces the growth of baseball from the time of the first recorded ball game at Valley Forge during the revolution until the formation of the two present-day major leagues in 1903. By investigating previously unknown sources, the book uncovers the real story of how baseball evolved from a gentleman's amateur sport of "well-bred play followed by well-laden banquet tables" into a professional sport where big leagues operate under their own laws. Offering countless anecdotes and a wealth of new information, the authors explode many cherished myths, including the one which claims that Abner Doubleday "invented" baseball in 1839. They describe the influence of baseball on American business, manners, morals, social institutions, and even show business, as well as depicting the types of men who became the first professional ball players, club owners, and managers, including Spalding, McGraw, Comiskey, and Connie Mack.
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 .
