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Solomon, Burt, WHERE THEY AIN'T: The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles, the Team that Gave Birth to Modern Baseball.. NF/NF. (Free Press, 1999). Index, 342 pp.
~~~ In the 1890s, the legendary Baltimore Orioles of the National League [sic] under the tutelage of manager Ned Hanlon, perfected a style of play known as "scientific baseball," featuring such innovations as the sacrifice bunt, the hit- and-run, the squeeze play, and the infamous Baltimore chop. Its best hitter, Wee Willie Keeler, had the motto "keep your eye clear and hit 'em where they ain't"--which he did. He and his colorful teammates, fierce third-baseman John McGraw, avuncular catcher Wibert Robinson, and heartthrob center fielder Joe Kelly, won three straight pennants from 1894 to 1896. But the Orioles were swept up and ultimately destroyed in a business intrigue involving the political machines of three large cities and collusion with the ambitious men who ran the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers. Burt Solomon narrates the rise and fall of this colorful franchise as a cautionary tale of greed and overreaching that speaks volumes as well about the enterprise of baseball a century later.
~~~ Hardcover edition OUT OF PRINT.

$25.00









Paige, Leroy (Satchel), MAYBE I'LL PITCH FOREVER. NY: 1963, 1st (of this) edition, Grove Press/ Black Cat. Good only (light discoloration and soiling, name to inner wrapper, usual yellowing) Vintage paperback; illustrations $20.00

$20.00






Jordan, David M, OCCASIONAL GLORY: The History of the Philadelphia Phillies . NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002). Photograhs, notes, bibliography, index, 296 pp.
~~~ The Philadelphia Phillies have lost more games and finished in last place more times than any other major league club. The lost seasons have established their reputation as one of the most unsuccessful teams ever to take the field—but even so the Phillies have had some unforgettable players and notable triumphs throughout their history. ~~~ This work is a history of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball club from its inception in 1883, when the Worcester (Massachusetts) Brown Stockings moved to Philadelphia, through the 2000 season, 118 years later. It covers the team’s finer seasons, moments, and players, including the great outfield of the 1890s, which was perhaps one of the best in big league history, Grover Cleveland Alexander and the 1915 pennant winner, Chuck Klein’s slugging feats, Roberts, Ennis, and Ashburn, the era of Gene Mauch, Jim Bunning and the heartbreak of the lost pennant in 1964, Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton and the 1980 World Series championship, and the surprise pennant win in 1993. The book also covers the less than memorable times that are all too familiar to the fans. The team’s relationship with the city of Philadelphia is also discussed at length.

$29.95

Rossi, John P, THE 1964 PHILLIES: The Story of Baseball's Most Memorable Collapse . NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005). Photograhs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, 196 pp.
~~~ In 1964, thousands of Philadelphia baseball fans were caught up in the Phillies’ unexpected run at the National League pennant. Nearly a decade of continuous defeat had earned them little more than the reputation for an unprecedented record of consecutive losses. But in that ’64 season the Phillies shocked the baseball world, taking over the National League in mid–July and holding on to first place for 73 consecutive days. And then, as the team’s first pennant in a generation seemed within reach, the Phillies collapsed in the greatest meltdown in baseball history. ~~~ This account traces the rise and fall of that year’s Phillies team and attempts to disentangle the complex issues that ultimately cost them the pennant. The book sheds light on the influential events of the fifties and sixties that rendered the team first futile and then undefeated, beginning with an exploration of Philadelphia itself and its team in the 1950s. Early chapters discuss the acquisition of a new manager (Gene Mauch) and the dramatic additions of a dynamic new pitcher (Jim Bunning) and the first great African American player produced by the farm system (Richie Allen). Following chapters focus specifically on the 1964 season and its critical moments, from Jim Bunning’s perfect game and Johnny Callison’s winning home run in the All-Star game, to Chico Ruiz’s steal of home that began the devastating 10-game losing streak at the end of the season. Final chapters analyze what went wrong during the season and discuss the Phillies’ position in baseball today. Three useful appendices provide the statistics for the games of the ’64 season and for the individual players on the team, and detailed statistics for the 10-game losing streak.

$28.50








Cicotello, David & Angelo J. Louisa (eds), FORBES FIELD: Essays & Memories of the Pirates' Historic Ballpark 1909-1971 . NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005). Photograhs, appendices, bibliography, index, 264 pp.
~~~ From its 1909 construction through the final game on June 28,1970, this volume presents a detailed look at the history and background of Forbes Field, home to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 62 seasons. Focusing on firsthand experience, the work contains the reminiscences of more than 55 former players, managers and club officials of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

$29.95

COMING
SOON
Ranier, Bill, and David Finoli, WHEN THE BUCS WON IT ALL: The 1979 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates . NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005). Photograhs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, 276 pp.
~~~ The 1970s were both successful and tragic for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They won five NL Eastern Division crowns and the 1971 World Championship, but lost the great Roberto Clemente in a plane crash and pitcher Bob Moose in a car accident during this time. By the end of the 1970s, the Pirates were a good team but no longer considered favorites to win a World Series. Thanks to a fantastic finish in 1978, the Pittsburghers gained new hope for the 1979 season. As intriguing as the season was, it wasn’t until the evening of August 25th that the Pirate fans really started to believe “it” could happen. ~~~ The history of that magical ball club is covered here, from how the 1979 world champion team was built, to a thorough look at the season and post season, to how “The Family” finally fell. Also included are biographical sketches of all players who appeared on the team’s roster that year and a section of complete statistics.

$29.95

Lou Sahadi, THE PIRATES: "We are Family". NY: 1980, 1st edition, NY Times. VG (signature to endpaper) in VG+ dust jacket. Oversize; gold boards; illustrations $25.00

$25.00

Stargell, Willie, WILLIE STARGELL. NY: 1984, 1st edition, Harper and Row. VG in VG- (flap clipped) dust jacket. Gold boards; illustrations $25.00

$25.00

[Warner] Clifton Blue Parker, BIG AND LITTLE POISON: Paul and Lloyd Warner, Baseball Brothers . NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003). Photograhs, appendix, notes, bibliography, index, 334 pp.
~~~ The Warner brothers, Paul and Lloyd—also known as “Big Poison” and “Little Poison”—played together for fourteen seasons in the same Pittsburgh outfield in the 1920s and 1930s. More than half a century after retiring, they still rank as the best-hitting brothers in major league history with a combined 5,611 hits—517 more than the three Alou brothers, 758 more than the three DiMaggio brothers, and 1,400 more than the five Delahanty brothers. And both Waners are in the Hall of Fame, the only playing brothers so honored. ~~~ This work tells the story of the Waner brothers from their early lives in Oklahoma through their playing days, which included a World Series against the legendary 1927 New York Yankees. It is also the story of two American eras: the Roaring Twenties and the Depression years. Both put up impressive numbers individually: Paul amassed 3,152 hits, and his .333 lifetime average ranks among the highest ever in the game. Lloyd, a lifetime .316 hitter, collected 2,459 hits, and had it not been for health problems, he might have cleared the 3,000 hit milestone as well. Together, they were baseball heroes.

$29.95

[YellowHorse], Roberts, Paul, ed. PITTSBURGH HISTORY. Pgh: Winter 1995/96, 1st edition, Hist. Soc. of W. Pa. VG Trade magazine; illustrations; contains an interesting article on Moses YellowHorse of the Pittsburgh Pirates $22.50

$22.50






Pahigian, Joshua R, THE RED SOX IN THE PLAYOFFS: A Postseason History, 1903-2005 . NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006). Photographs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, 285 pp.
~~~ The dramatic postseason collapses and logic-defying defeats suffered by the Boston Red Sox in the 86 long years between their 1918 and 2004 world championships are the stuff of legend. Fan fixation on the climactic moments—Johnny Pesky’s late throw in 1946, Bill Buckner’s boot in 1986 and so many others—leaves the full story of the team’s experiences in the playoffs and World Series too little remembered. ~~~ This thorough history covers all postseason appearances from 1903 through 2005, including the one-game playoffs of 1948 and 1978. A review of each playoff team’s regular season exploits not only explains how the team qualified for postseason play, but also captures the feeling of the team and its fans during the campaign. Every postseason game is studied in detail.

$35.00






[Bench], John Davaney, THE BASEBALL LIFE OF JOHNNY BENCH. NY: 1974, 1st edition, Scholastic Book Service. Vg- (light foxing) Vintage paperback; collectible; great Cincinnati Reds' item $15.00

$15.00

Mulligan, Brian, THE 1940 CINCINNATI REDS: A World Championship and Baseball's Only In-Season Suicide. NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005). Photographs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, 230 pp.
~~~ One of the oldest and most celebrated franchises in baseball history, the Cincinnati Reds have left an indelible mark on the national pastime. Perhaps the most compelling but overlooked period in Reds history is the 1940 championship season, during which the team won 100 games and earned the world title while overcoming an in-season tragedy faced by no other team in baseball history. Four attempted suicides, three of which were successful, by individuals connected to the team dealt a tragic and unprecedented setback to what was ultimately a successful season. ~~~~ This book addresses both the 1940 Cincinnati Reds as a collective group and, to a greater degree, the individual players who comprised that championship squad. The book begins with the story of Willard Hershberger, the 1940 reserve catcher for the Reds and the only player ever to commit suicide during a major league season. Later chapters tell the stories of Bill McKechnie and Warren Giles, the managers who together led the Reds to victory over the Detroit Tigers in 1940, and the stories of the players on the pennant-winning team: Frank McCormick, Lonnie Frey, Billy Myers, Billy Werber, Eddie Joost, Paul Derringer, William “Bucky” Walters, Johnny Vander Meer, Gene Thompson, Jim Turner, Joseph Beggs, Jimmy Ripple, and Ernie Lombardi. The crucial games, important performances, and personal tragedies of the 1940 season, culminating in the drama of a seven-game World Series, are chronicled in this book.

$29.95





Ritter, Lawrence S., LOST BALLPARKS: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields. NY: 1992, 6th printing, Viking. VG+ in VG+ dust jacket. oversize; illustrations; hardbound. Synopsis "The author offers a social history of twenty-two major and minor league baseball parks that are no longer in existence. Ballparks covered include Comiskey Park, Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, and Wrigley Field. Bibliography. Index. 224 pages. From The New York Review of Books: "Lost Ballparks, with a text by Lawrence S. Ritter and an introduction by Robert W. Creamer (two of the best writers in baseball's literary establishment), documents twenty of those older, smaller, odd-shaped, and more intimate ballparks that form part of our image of the gentler past game but fell to the wrecker's ball. How I loved Ebbetts Field (even more than Fenway Park, the great relic that I now attend), while I hated the Dodgers who played there. Who can forget the sounds of the Sym-Phony or Hilda and her cowbell; the SchaefferBeer sign borrowed by the official scorer to light its 'h' for a hit and one of its 'e's' for an error." From The Christian Science Monitor: "For 200-odd pages, these parks and their neighborhoods live again in all their vitality and glorious idiosyncrasy. At Crosley Field in Cincinnati, the Superior Towel and Linen Service building still peers over the left-field fence, as does the Siebler Suit billboard, inviting hitters to hit the sign and win a suit. At Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Connie Mack once again conducts theaffairs of the Athletics from the palatial splendor of his tower office. . . . Ritter's choice of photos provides a time-lapse history of these fields, from groundbreaking to demolition; his prose is sparse, efficient, complete, and quite remarkable in that it never intrudes on the reader's own gauzy notion ofwhat these parks once were." OUT OF PRINT. $40.00

$40.00







[Robinson], Arnold Rampersad, JACKIE ROBINSON, A BIOGRAPHY. Alfred A. Knopf, 1997, First Edition. Photographs, notes, index, 512 pages. NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket. From the Publisher: "The extraordinary life of Jackie Robinson is illuminated as never before in this full-scale biography by Arnold Rampersad, who was chosen by Jack's widow, Rachel, to tell her husband's story, and was given unprecedented access to his private papers. We are brought closer than we have ever been to the great ballplayer, a man of courage and quality who became a pivotal figure in the areas of race and civil rights. We follow Robinson through World War II, when, in the first wave of racial integration in the armed forces, he was commissioned as an officer, then court-martialed after refusing to move to the back of a bus. After he plays in the Negro National League, we watch the opening of an all-American drama as, late in 1945, Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers recognized Jack as the right player to break baseball's color barrier - and the game was forever changed. Jack's never-before-published letters open up his relationship with his family, especially his wife, Rachel, whom he married just as his perilous venture of integrating baseball began. Her memories are a major resource of the narrative as we learn about the severe harassment Robinson endured from teammates and opponents alike; about death threats and exclusion; about joy and remarkable success. We follow his blazing career: 1947, Rookie of the Year; 1949, Most Valuable Player; six pennants in ten seasons, and in 1962, induction into the Hall of Fame. But sports were merely one aspect of his life. We see his business ventures, his leading role in the community, his early support of Martin Luther King Jr., his commitment to the civil rights movement at a crucial stage in its evolution; his controversial associations with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Humphrey, Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, and Malcolm X." Originally published at $27.50. Hardcover now OUT OF PRINT.

$35.00

[Robinson], Sharon Robinson, STEALING HOME: AN INTIMATE FAMILY PORTRAIT. HarperCollins, 1996., NEW. First Edition. Photographs, 213 pp. A family memoir by the daughter of Jackie Robinson.

$25.00

[Robinson] Glenn Stout & Dick Johnson, JACKIE ROBINSON: BETWEEN THE BASELINES. Woodford Press, San Francisco, 1997., NEW. PAPERBACK, 8.5x10. Profusely illustrated with photographs on glossy paper throughout. Statistics, bibliography, index, 204 pp. Essays by David Halberstam, Red Smith, Wendell Smith, Gerald Early, Ira Berkow, Luke Salisbury.

$20.00



Rosenthal, Harold, BASEBALL'S BEST MANAGERS. NY: 1961, 1st edition, Batholomew House. VG- (light wear) Vintage paperback; great New York Yankees' Casey Stengel cover art $20.00

$20.00







Meany, Tom, BABE RUTH. NY: 1948, Bantam. Good-- only. Vintage paperback $12.50

$12.50


click to enlarge Montville, Leigh, BIG BAM: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth. VG/VG. (Doubleday, 2006). 400 pp.
~~~ Babe Ruth was more than baseball's original superstar. For eighty-five years, he has remained the sport's reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century . . . more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? Why is so little known about his childhood, his private life, and his inner thoughts? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville, whose recent New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews and offered an exceptionally intimate look at Williams's life, brings his trademark touch to this groundbreaking, revelatory portrait of the Babe. ~~~ Based on newly discovered documents and interviews-including pages from Ruth's personal scrapbooks -The Big Bam traces Ruth's life from his bleak childhood in Baltimore to his brash entrance into professional baseball, from Boston to New York and into the record books as the world's most explosive slugger and cultural luminary. Montville explores every aspect of the man, paying particular attention to the myths that have always surrounded him. Did he really hit the "called shot" homer in the 1932 World Series? Were his home runs really "the farthest balls ever hit" in countless ballparksaround the country? Was he really part black-making him the first African American professional baseball superstar? And was Ruth the high-octane, womanizing, heavy-drinking "fatso" of legend . . . or just a boyish, rudderless quasi-orphan who did, in fact, take his training and personal conditioning quite seriously? ~~~ At a time when modern baseball is grappling with hyper-inflated salaries, free agency, and assorted controversies, The Big Bam brings back the pure glory days of the game. Leigh Montville operates at the peak of his abilities, exploring Babe Ruth in a way that intimately, and poignantly, illuminates a most remarkable figure.

$25.00






Fleitz, David L, SHOELESS: The Life & Times of Joe Jackson . NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001). Photograhs, notes, bibliography, index, 320 pp.
~~~ “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was one of baseball’s greatest hitters and most colorful players. Born Joseph Jefferson Wofford Jackson on July 16, 1888, in Pickens County, South Carolina, Jackson went to work in a textile mill when he was around six years old, and got his start in baseball playing for the Brandon Mill team at the age of 13 earning $2.50 a game. He emerged as the star of the team and a favorite of fans with his hitting and throwing abilities, and moved up to play in the Carolina Association, where he received his nickname “Shoeless” because the blisters on his feet forced him to play in his stockings. He then made his move to the major leagues, signing on with the Philadelphia Athletics and rising to fame. This work chronicles Jackson’s life from his poor beginnings to his involvement in the scandal surrounding the 1919 World Series to his life after baseball and his death December 5, 1951, with most of the work focusing on his baseball career.

$29.95



Skolnik, Richard, BASEBALL AND THE PURSUIT OF INNOCENCE; A Fresh Look at the Old Ball Game. NEW copy. Trade paperback. Texas A&M University Press, 1994. Line drawings, notes, index, 257 pages. A probing look at the game today and how, on the surface it seems to reflect old, unchanging, more innocent traditions which may or may not fit in with the modern era of big business baseball. Excerpt: "The pressure of having to perform, to compete, to win, makes players more conscientious than ever when it comes to year-round conditioning, extra batting practice and studying videotapes, but it also produces a variety of other behaviors easily viewed as unreasonable, even irrational. On the other hand, if baseball itself is partially mysterious, occasionally unfathomable, the unconventional approach may not be entirely inappropriate. Whatever the reason, a majority of players are superstitious, accept the fact that performance is not just mechanical and mental, but is guided by inscrutable forces that must be appreciated, recognized and appeased." In print at $16.95

$16.00







[Snider], Irwin Winehouse, THE DUKE SNIDER STORY. NY: 1965, 2nd printing, Messner. Good+ (ex-library stamps--yet clean, tight, and bright) Pictorial boards; illustrations $20.00

$20.00






Bartlett, Arthur, BASEBALL AND MR. SPALDING: The History and Romance of Baseball. NY: 1951, 1st edition, Farrar Strauss and Young. Vg- (light wear) Blue boards; illustrations $20.00

$20.00


click to enlarge Lamster, Mark, SPALDING'S WORLD TOUR: The Epic Adventure that Took Baseball Around the Globe -- And Made It America's Game . VG/VG. (Public Affairs, 2006). 368 pp.
~~~ In October of 1888, Albert Goodwill Spalding-baseball star, sporting-goods magnate, promotional genius, serial fabulist-departed Chicago on a trip that would take him and two baseball teams on a journey clear around the globe. Their mission, closely followed in the American and international press, had two (secret) goals: to fix the game in the American consciousness as the purest expression of the national spirit, and to seed markets for Spalding's products near and far. In the process, these first cultural ambassadors played before kings and queens, visited the Coliseum and the Eiffel Tower, and took pot shots with their baseballs at the great Sphinx in Egypt. ~~~ This expedition to lands both exotic and familiar is chronicled with dash and wit in Mark Lamster's Spalding's World Tour, a book filled with larger-than-life characters often competing harder for love and money off the baseball diamond than for runs on it. ~~~ Getting themselves into scrapes and narrowly escaping international incident all around the globe, these innocents abroad gave the world an early peek at the American century just around the corner. For anyone interested in the history of the game-or the history of brand marketing-Spalding's World Tour hits the sweet spot.

$25.00

Levine, Peter, A.G. SPALDING AND THE RISE OF BASEBALL: The Promise of American Sport. VG+/VG--. Spine sunned on jacket, otherwise a clean, tight copy. (NY: Oxford University Press, 1985). Photographs, notes, bibliography, index, 183 pp.
~~~ A. G. Spalding was a key figure in the professionalization and commercialization of American sports. Co-founder of baseball's National League, owner of the Chicago White Stockings (later the Cubs), and founder of a sporting goods business that made him a millionaire, Spalding not only willed baseball to be our national pastime but also contributed to making sport a significant part of American life. ~~~ This biography captures the zest, flamboyance, and creativity of Albert Goodwell Spalding, a man of insatiable ego, a showman and entrepreneur, whose life illuminated the hopes and fears of 19th-century Americans. It is a vivid evocation of the vanished world of 19th-century baseball, recreating a time when it was transformed from a game played on unkempt fields to modern style.
~~~ Originally published at $16.95, hardcover now OUT OF PRINT. Paperback edition currently in print at $27.45.

$25.00



click to enlarge Sullivan, Dean A, EARLY INNINGS: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908. Trade PAPERBACK. (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair Publisher, 1994). First Edition. Photographs, tables, appendices, bibliography, index, 260 pages.
~~~ "Readers [get] a box seat at the game that became a national obsession."-London Review of Books. "[Shows] just how compelling original documents can be when shaped into a narrative . . . that includes tales of attitudes, alliances, and deceits, as well as the development of performances, rules, and equipment." ~~Canadian Journal of the History of Sport.
~~~ "Ancient myths are shattered and new facts are uncovered."-USA Today Baseball Weekly.
~~~ "Fascinating collection." ~~Washington Post.
~~~ "Stories from the early days that no serious baseball fan would want to miss." ~~Chattanooga Times.
~~~ This compilation of 120 primary writings documents baseball's first century, from a loosely organized village social event to the arrival of the National League. Collecting from a wide range of sources-including newspaper accounts, letters, folk poetry, songs, and annual guides. Dean A. Sullivan of Fairfax, Virginia, progresses chronologically from the earliest known baseball reference (1825) to the creation of the Doubleday Myth (1908).

$21.95

click to enlarge Sullivan, Dean A, MIDDLE INNINGS: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900-1948. NF/NF. Dust jacket in mylar protector. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). First Edition. Photographs, tables, appendices, bibliography, index, 250 pages.
~~~ Dean Sullivan presents a fascinating array of provocative, unexpected, and illuminating materials revealing the rich history of baseball. Beginning with the formation of the American League as a second major league and concluding with the death of Babe Ruth, the 105 pieces in this work cover such well-known topics as the Merkle Boner, Jim Thorpe, Christy Mathewson, the Black Sox scandal, Lou Gehrig, the death of Ray Chapman, Ty Cobb, Dizzy Dean, and more from the storied major leagues. Additional but lesser-known treasures celebrate semi-pro teams, boys' baseball fiction, Japanese baseball, college ball, black baseball, the minor leagues, women's teams, and numerous other facets of the game of baseball.
~~~ Hardcover edition OUT OF PRINT.

$30.00

Sumner, Jim L., SEPARATING THE MEN FROM THE BOYS: The First Half-Century of the Carolina League. NF/NF. Dust jacket in mylar protector. (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair Publisher, 1994). First Edition. Photographs, tables, appendices, bibliography, index, 260 pages.

$25.00



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