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…
Burgess, Granville Wyche. The Last At-Bat of Shoeless Joe: A Novel. New York, NY: Chickadee Prince Books, 2019. Pp. 252. $12.99 trade paperback. Reviewed by Gavin J. Woltjer This fall will mark the 100-year anniversary of the notorious Black Sox scandal, arguably the worst scandal in the history of US professional sports. Fallout from the…
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 July 22, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. When France won the World Cup last week, the celebrations across that county were massive. In every town and city,…
By Michael Paul Martoccio, Guest Contributor It finally happened. And as a life-long White Sox fan I’m pressed to say it: Congratulations Cubs! The goat has been slaughtered, the curse broken. Yet as the city cleans up its 108-year-old strategic ticker-tape reserves, I am left to reflect on one overlooked part of this year’s World Series:…
Last week the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Their victory inspired what’s been reported as the seventh largest gathering in human history in downtown Chicago. Millions of fans flocked to the streets to celebrate what has for generations been a mere fantasy. Millions more watched the World Series as its intense seven games served as a…
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…
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…
Sport in American History 