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The National Game

Baseball and American Culture

John P. Rossi

John Rossi offers not only an expert overview of baseball over the past 175 years; he shows how the game has reflected and contributed to changes in American society over time. The National Game chronicles baseball's popular successes and financial failures; its interleague wars and continuing struggles between owners and players; and its accommodations to radio and television—without neglecting the colorful players and managers who have won the hearts of fans. A succinct, knowledgeable synopsis...recommended. —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

As a part of popular culture, sport has made a deep impression in American life. And nowhere is this clearer than in baseball, the game that seems to transcend generations and has made its way into our language and literature. In The National Game, John Rossi offers not only an expert overview of baseball over the past 175 years; he shows how the game has reflected and contributed to changes in American society over that time. The country grew up playing baseball, Mr. Rossi notes, but the professional game took hold in the cities of the Northeast just as the nation was transforming itself from a rural to an urban society. Essentially a middle-class attempt to create a club sport, the game began early on to integrate immigrant groups—and over the years it became an important pathway to acceptance for all kinds of outsiders. The National Game chronicles baseball's popular successes and financial failures; its interleague wars and continuing struggles between owners and players; and its accommodations to radio and television—without neglecting the colorful players and managers who have won the hearts of fans. For a readable, concise history of the game and its place in American culture, Mr. Rossi's book is hard to beat. With 10 black-and-white photographs

Ivan R. Dee

Pages: 256 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-56663-287-4 • Hardback • February 2000 • $25.00 • (£18.99)

978-1-56663-416-8 • Paperback • December 2001 • $18.95 • (£14.99)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History, Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General, History / General, Sports & Recreation / General

The National Game

Baseball and American Culture

Hardback

Paperback

Summary

John Rossi offers not only an expert overview of baseball over the past 175 years; he shows how the game has reflected and contributed to changes in American society over time. The National Game chronicles baseball's popular successes and financial failures; its interleague wars and continuing struggles between owners and players; and its accommodations to radio and television—without neglecting the colorful players and managers who have won the hearts of fans. A succinct, knowledgeable synopsis...recommended. —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

As a part of popular culture, sport has made a deep impression in American life. And nowhere is this clearer than in baseball, the game that seems to transcend generations and has made its way into our language and literature. In The National Game, John Rossi offers not only an expert overview of baseball over the past 175 years; he shows how the game has reflected and contributed to changes in American society over that time. The country grew up playing baseball, Mr. Rossi notes, but the professional game took hold in the cities of the Northeast just as the nation was transforming itself from a rural to an urban society. Essentially a middle-class attempt to create a club sport, the game began early on to integrate immigrant groups—and over the years it became an important pathway to acceptance for all kinds of outsiders. The National Game chronicles baseball's popular successes and financial failures; its interleague wars and continuing struggles between owners and players; and its accommodations to radio and television—without neglecting the colorful players and managers who have won the hearts of fans. For a readable, concise history of the game and its place in American culture, Mr. Rossi's book is hard to beat. With 10 black-and-white photographs

Details

Ivan R. Dee

Pages: 256 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-56663-287-4 • Hardback • February 2000 • $25.00 • (£18.99)

978-1-56663-416-8 • Paperback • December 2001 • $18.95 • (£14.99)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History, Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General, History / General, Sports & Recreation / General

Table of Contents

Part 1 Preface vii
Part 2 Origins of the Game 3
Part 3 Baseball as Big Business, 1876-1891 25
Part 4 Coming of Age, 1891-1908 51
Part 5 The Wars of Baseball, 1909-1918 75
Part 6 Golden Age, 1919-1931 97
Part 7 Baseball in Depression and War, 1931-1945 121
Part 8 No Golden Age: Baseball, 1946-1960 147
Part 9 Coming Apart, 1961-1977 169
Part 10 Best of Times, Worst of Times, 1978-1994 191
Part 11 The Future of the National Game 211
Part 12 Notes 219
Part 13 A Note on Sources 227
Part 14 Index 236

Reviews

For the real fan, this is an interesting and absorbing book.
— Tampa Tribune

Stimulating.
— Library Journal

Not only readable but satisfying to those who are interested in the broader historical context of the sport.
— Virginia Quarterly Review

Fresh and stimulating insights into the relationship between baseball and American culture.
— John Curtis; The San Diego Union-Tribune

Succinct, knowledgeable...recommended without reservation as an introduction to baseball history.
— Jonathan Yardley; The Instrumentalist

The National Game

Baseball and American Culture

John P. Rossi

The National Game

Baseball and American Culture

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