Mumau, Thad. “Had ‘Em All the Way”: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2015. 17 Photographs, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Pp. 240. $29.95 softback. Reviewed by Charles R. Westmoreland On Thursday afternoon, October 13, 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates delivered one of the most dramatic episodes in modern sports history. In Game Seven of…
Nathanson, Mitchell. A People’s History of Baseball. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012 (hardback), 2015 (paperback). Pp. xiv+272. Notes, index, and appendices. $19.95 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber An effective way to summarize Mitchell Nathanson’s book, A People’s History of Baseball, can be found at the very end of the work when the author notes…
Overmyer, James E. Black Ball and the Boardwalk: The Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, 1916-1929. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2014. 30 Photos, Appendices, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Pp. 284. $39.95 softback. Plott, William J. The Negro Southern League: A Baseball History, 1920-1951. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015. 30 Photos, Appendices,…
By Leslie Heaphy Baseball is still America’s national pastime. You may not agree with me but there is much evidence to support this belief. Just look at the number of new books that came out in 2015 alone. Every day articles are written about the past, present and future of the game. Numerous sites exist…
In early October I read an article in the Los Angeles Times about a new oral history project aimed at collecting and preserving the stories of African Americans in Major League Baseball. The project was launched in 2013 by Dr. Daniel Durbin, the Director of the Annenberg Institute of Sport, Media and Society (AISMS) at…
By Andrew McGregor Tomorrow night the 2015 World Series begins with the Kansas City Royals hosting the New York Mets. For the first time in its 111 year history, this year’s World Series features two expansion teams. While for most baseball fans this is mostly a meaningless footnotes, it’s a reminder of how much the…
Walker, James R. Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2015. Pp. xiv+305. Notes, index, and appendices. $28.95 clothback. Reviewed by Hunter M. Hampton I began writing this review on the Monday after my Texas Rangers won the American League West. In case you missed it,…
By Josh Howard Our hope is that this exhibit inspires, educates and emotionally connects people of all ages…the remarkable story of the Negro Leagues. A lot of people say PNC Park is the best ballpark in America. Well, PNC Park just got a lot better. — Kevin McClatchy, then owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, speaking…
By Dain TePoel The Little League World Series (LLWS) came to a close on Sunday in a record-setting slug-fest. The Kitasuna squad from Tokyo out-mustered the Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, Red Land team 18-11, but the 29 combined runs were the most ever for a LLWS championship game. One of the main U.S. media narratives for the…
By Kate Aguilar On Friday, July 24, 2015, popular ESPN Radio talk show host Colin Cowherd incited a stampede of criticism when on Thursday’s program he remarked that baseball was not a “thinking man’s game” as evidenced by the number of Dominican players. On Thursday’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd, he began his self-proclaimed 57-second…
Sport in American History 