Thompson, Evan. A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs – Volume 1: Pre-Divisional Tiebreakers Through 1976. BookBaby (self-published). Pp. 460. $34.95 (paperback). Reviewed by Richard A. Macales By the mid-1960s Major League Baseball was in trouble. BIG TROUBLE! Attendance had tanked. Batting statistics and runs scored––which fans generally prefer over great pitching––“hit” record…
Sport in American History presents a two-part series on the beginning and end of Major League sports in Oakland. SAH reviews two books on the forgotten California Golden Seals and unforgettable Oakland A’s. Woven into the reviews––a look at the hockey Seals’ never-ending woes and the 50th anniversary of the Oakland A’s first World Series…
Trutor, Clayton. Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta––and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports. Lincoln: Nebraska University Press, 2022. Pp. 504. $34.95 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski A major American city––one that is either in development or dealing with social, economic, or environmental issues––never fully “arrives” or “emerges” on the national map until it lands a…
Nicholson, James C. 1968: A Pivotal Moment in American Sports. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2019. Pp. 149. $34.95 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski The year 1968 is often considered a vital year for America. A year known for unrest and protest, it also was marked by technological progress and assassinations of two progressive…
Coverdale, Miles Jr. The 1960s in Sports: A Decade of Change. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. Pp. 371. Black and white photos, index, bibliography, and notes. $75 hardcover. Reviewed by Richard A. Macales “During the turmoil of the 1960s, the world of sports provided a positive distraction for the American people.” – Author Miles…
Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at The Activist History Review and is cross-posted here with permission. By Michael T. Barry, Jr. Ever since I can remember, baseball has been a staple of my summers. As a kid, I would spend every single day playing backyard games with my friends and then nights watching my beloved Boston…
By Timothy J. Lombardo A familiar refrain accompanied the Philadelphia Eagles’ unlikely trek toward Super Bowl LII. It was perhaps best explained by Ed Rendell. Predicting an Eagles victory, Rendell said, “This team reminds me of the 1993 Phillies, just a bunch of working stiffs, not glamourous whatsoever. So blue-collar.” Rendell was uniquely qualified to…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on June 26, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. The former Poet Laureate of the United States, Donald Hall, died last weekend at the age of 89 at his…
Leeke, Jim. From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War. University of Nebraska Press, 2017. PP. xii + 238. Notes, bibliography, index, photos, $32.95 hardback. Reviewed by Doug Wilson World War I was a new kind of war, one that touched on every phase of life around the world. It demanded an…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on May 10, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. By Richard C. Crepeau It has been several weeks since I have taken to the computer to attempt another of…
Sport in American History 