Sol White's Official Base Ball Guide

First published in 1907, the Sol White Guide is the only known document devoted to the early years of organized Black Ball.  Much of what is known about the era comes from this book.  The SGB publication includes a wealth of background information about White, his teammates, and other star players, plus a fascinating Who’s Who section, compiled by award-winning Negro Leagues historian Gary Ashwill.  


Sol White was a star player and manager in the early years of organized black baseball.  In 1907 he teamed with sports writer and team owner Walter Schlichter to publish the first and only history of the stars, teams, and great feats of the era.  The writing is all White’s; Schlicter provided the backing.   This unique window into the important chapter in baseball history includes descriptions of the skills and feats of the top players, accounts and box scores of championship matches, and 57 invaluable photographs.  Also included are essays by luminaries of the time:  Art and Science of Hitting, by “Home Run” Johnson, and How to Pitch, by 1981 Hall of Fame inductee Rube Foster. 


The SGB edition of The Sol White Guide is the first in nearly 20 years.  Gary Ashwill’s introduction and text notes include newly-discovered information about the players and events recounted in the book, much of which was uncovered by Gary’s own painstaking research into the era.   The Who’s Who Section provides fascinating thumbnail biographies of the star players covered in White’s guide. 

From the classic poses struck by the players, to the early 20th century baseball language of the text, to the ads from local merchants included to pay for the book’s production, The Sol White Guide is a time capsule of a nearly forgotten but very important era in the history of baseball.  With that in mind, Summer Game Books has made every effort to be true to the original, both with the wording and spelling of the text and the positioning and cropping of the photos.