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BASEBALL: THE EARLY YEARS by Harold Seymour

BASEBALL: THE EARLY YEARS

By

ISBN: 0195059123
Publisher: Oxford

Dr. Seymour, a Professor, and once the batboy of the Brooklyn Dodgers, has combined the techniques of the historian with a longstanding enthusiasm in this first of a two volume story of baseball, as it evolved from a child's game to a young gentleman's sport to a big business monopoly, ""with its inevitable loss of character as a sport"". From its earliest origins (the English rounders), to its first team- the rather select Knickerbockers, to the formation of other clubs and The Association- this is an extensive coverage of baseball decade by decade; its clubs- along with their labor policies, operation, rivalries and wars; the changes and improvements in the game; its players, devotees, language and literature-- all reflecting many aspects of American life. It's a lively playback, in which the highly competitive spirit of the game- the sometimes outlandish spectacle to which it has led- is not subdued by the tremendous amount of factual information on which this is based. There should certainly be a substantial spectator interest in a book of this kind.