The Great Baseball Revolt

The Great Baseball Revolt PDF Author: Robert B. Ross
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803249411
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
The Players League, formed in 1890, was a short-lived professional baseball league controlled and owned in part by the players themselves, a response to the National League’s salary cap and “reserve rule,” which bound players for life to one particular team. Led by John Montgomery Ward, the Players League was a star-studded group that included most of the best players of the National League, who bolted not only to gain control of their wages but also to share ownership of the teams. Lasting only a year, the league impacted both the professional sports and the labor politics of athletes and nonathletes alike. The Great Baseball Revolt is a historic overview of the rise and fall of the Players League, which fielded teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Though it marketed itself as a working-class league, the players were underfunded and had to turn to wealthy capitalists for much of their startup costs, including the new ballparks. It was in this context that the league intersected with the organized labor movement, and in many ways challenged by organized labor to be by and for the people. In its only season, the Players League outdrew the National League in fan attendance. But when the National League overinflated its numbers and profits, the Players League backers pulled out. The Great Baseball Revolt brings to life a compelling cast of characters and a mostly forgotten but important time in professional sports when labor politics affected both athletes and nonathletes. Purchase the audio edition.

The Great Baseball Revolt

The Great Baseball Revolt PDF Author: Robert B. Ross
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803249411
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Players League, formed in 1890, was a short-lived professional baseball league controlled and owned in part by the players themselves, a response to the National League’s salary cap and “reserve rule,” which bound players for life to one particular team. Led by John Montgomery Ward, the Players League was a star-studded group that included most of the best players of the National League, who bolted not only to gain control of their wages but also to share ownership of the teams. Lasting only a year, the league impacted both the professional sports and the labor politics of athletes and nonathletes alike. The Great Baseball Revolt is a historic overview of the rise and fall of the Players League, which fielded teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Though it marketed itself as a working-class league, the players were underfunded and had to turn to wealthy capitalists for much of their startup costs, including the new ballparks. It was in this context that the league intersected with the organized labor movement, and in many ways challenged by organized labor to be by and for the people. In its only season, the Players League outdrew the National League in fan attendance. But when the National League overinflated its numbers and profits, the Players League backers pulled out. The Great Baseball Revolt brings to life a compelling cast of characters and a mostly forgotten but important time in professional sports when labor politics affected both athletes and nonathletes. Purchase the audio edition.

The Players League

The Players League PDF Author: Ed Koszarek
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476609187
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
After talks with baseball's owners broke down in the fall of 1889, some of the greatest players of the day jumped their contracts and declared open revolt against the American Association and National League. Tired of life under the hated reserve clause, which bound players to their teams and left them with no bargaining power, John Montgomery Ward and some 140 others set out to form a rival major league. The Players League would last only a season and end quite badly for both the players and the American Association, which folded a year later; but as a representation of the first major battle between the players and owners, the league occupies an important place in baseball history. This remarkably comprehensive book opens with an historical introduction to the league, including detailed information about its origins and failure. A biographical dictionary follows, with entries for every player in the league's brief tenure and additional profiles of prominent players who chose not to dignify the revolt with their participation. Profiles of the teams are also included.

Deaf Players in Major League Baseball

Deaf Players in Major League Baseball PDF Author: R.A.R. Edwards
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147667017X
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
The first deaf baseball player joined the pro ranks in 1883. By 1901, four played in the major leagues, most notably outfielder William "Dummy" Hoy and pitcher Luther "Dummy" Taylor. Along the way, deaf players developed a distinctive approach, bringing visual acuity and sign language to the sport. They crossed paths with other pioneers, including Moses Fleetwood Walker and Jackie Robinson. This book recounts their great moments in the game, from the first all-deaf barnstorming team to the only meeting of a deaf batter and a deaf pitcher in a major league game. The true story--often dismissed as legend--of Hoy, together with umpire "Silk" O'Loughlin, bringing hand signals to baseball is told.

Comeback Season

Comeback Season PDF Author: Cam Perron
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982153601
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
In 2007, at the age of twelve, Perron bought a set of Topps baseball cards featuring several players from the Negro Leagues. He started writing letters to former Negro League players asking for their autographs and a few words about their careers. The players responded with detailed stories about their glory days on the field, and the racism they faced, including run-ins with the KKK. The letters turned into phone calls, and in these conversations many of the players revealed that they had fallen out of touch with their former teammates. Perron and a small group of fellow researchers organized the first annual Negro League Players Reunion in Birmingham, Alabama in 2010. This is the story of his mission to help many players get pension money that they were owed from Major League Baseball-- and to get a Negro League museum opened in Birmingham, stocked with memorabilia. -- adapted from jacket

The Major League Baseball Ultimate Book of Records

The Major League Baseball Ultimate Book of Records PDF Author: Major League Baseball
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 0771057350
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Since the first pitch was thrown, MLB has tracked the performance of every team and player, documented every hit and measured every home run. And while some plays are part of the everyday game, there are moments in baseball when a player's performance reaches a new level of greatness and new records are made. The Major League Baseball Ultimate Book of Records catalogs the game's most remarkable achievements, as well as some of the less traditional and quirky stats that all play a part in the game. MLB's team of in-house writers, researchers and historians have scoured the history of the game and written the most accurate, complete and definitive record of baseball stats and achievements. Major League Baseball Ultimate Book of Records documents the absolute best of the best and packs each achievement into this lavishly illustrated book where fans will be treated to never-before-seen photographs of their favourite players. Double-page spreads will show Henderson racing to second base to claim the stolen base record, while another full color spread celebrates Bond's crushing hit that set a new threshold for most home-runs. All the records are here, each with an account of events and spectacular photographs that make this truly the most spectacular baseball book ever published.

The Battle that Forged Modern Baseball

The Battle that Forged Modern Baseball PDF Author: Daniel R. Levitt
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee
ISBN: 1566639050
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
In late 1913 the newly formed Federal League declared itself a major league in competition with the established National and American Leagues. Backed by some of America’s wealthiest merchants and industrialists, the new organization posed a real challenge to baseball’s prevailing structure. For the next two years the well-established leagues fought back furiously in the press, in the courts, and on the field. The story of this fascinating and complex historical battle centers on the machinations of both the owners and the players, as the Federals struggled for profits and status, and players organized baseball’s first real union. Award winning author, Daniel R. Levitt gives us the most authoritative account yet published of the short-lived Federal League, the last professional baseball league to challenge the National League and American League monopoly.

Out of My League:

Out of My League: PDF Author: Dirk Hayhurst
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN: 0806536667
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 461

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Book Description
The New York Times bestseller from the author of The Bullpen Gospels. “A humorous, candid and insightful memoir . . . Grade: Home Run.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer After six years in the minors, pitcher Dirk Hayhurst hopes 2008 is the year he breaks into the big leagues. But every time Dirk looks up, the bases are loaded with challenges—a wedding balancing on a blind hope, a family in chaos, and paychecks that beg Dirk to ask, “How long can I afford to keep doing this?” Then it finally happens—Dirk gets called up to the Majors, to play for the San Diego Padres. A dream comes true when he takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants, kicking off forty insane days and nights in the Bigs. Like the classic games of baseball’s history, Out of My League entertains from the first pitch to the last out, capturing the gritty realities of playing on the big stage, the comedy and camaraderie in the dugouts and locker rooms, and the hard-fought, personal journeys that drive our love of America’s favorite pastime. “A rare gem of a baseball book.”—Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated “Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious.”—Bob Costas “A fun read . . . This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life.”—Keith Olbermann “Entertaining and engaging . . . reminiscent of Jim Bouton’s Ball Four.”—Booklist “The book is a terrific read. If you loved Bullpen Gospels (I’d have a hard time believing you are a baseball fan if you didn’t) you will love Out of My League too.”—Bluebird Banter

Puerto Rico's Winter League

Puerto Rico's Winter League PDF Author: Thomas E. Van Hyning
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786419708
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Since its inception in 1938, the Liga de Beisbol Professional de Puerto Rico has launched the careers of numerous island players, including Ruben Gomez, Jerry Morales, Orlando Cepeda, Vic Power, Ruben Sierra and the greatest of all Puerto Rican stars, Roberto Clemente. For many "imports," the league has been a stepping stone to major league stardom. In its early years, many of the league's stars came from the Negro Leagues: Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Monte Irvin and Roy Campanella were just a few of the African American stars who graced the Puerto Rican diamonds in the 1940s and early 1950s. The Santurce outfield of 1954 featured one of the finest outfields in baseball history: Clemente, Willie Mays, and Puerto Rican star Bob Thurman. Through the mid-1980s, many major league teams sent their up-and-coming stars to Puerto Rico for a final bit of seasoning--Cal Ripken, Jr., Tony Gwynn, Johnny Bench, Rickey Henderson, Phil Niekro, Hank Aaron and Robin Yount were among them. They played for such future league big league managers as Frank Robinson, Jim Fregosi and Kevin Kennedy, while the balls and strikes were called by Nestor Chylak, Doug Harvey, Dale Ford and many other future major league umpires.

Closer

Closer PDF Author: Kevin Neary
Publisher: Running Press Adult
ISBN: 076244679X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Major leagues' most prominent relief pitchers, their role as closer, and how they cope with stress on the mound.

When Baseball Was Still King

When Baseball Was Still King PDF Author: Gene Fehler
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786493089
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Baseball in the 1950s comes to life through the words of 92 players from the fifties. In their conversations with author Gene Fehler, they tell, in more than a thousand stories and comments, of memorable moments, their dealings with umpires and managers, injuries and trades that affected their careers, regrets and joys that still remain with them so many years later. Players spoken to include Hall of Famers, All Stars, journeymen, and a few who were in the big leagues for the proverbial cup of coffee. Regardless of stature, they all have wonderful stories to tell about big league life in the 1950s, high and low, and moments with other players.