Muscle, a Minor League Legend


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The Middle Atlantic League, 1925-1952


Book Description

The small and midsized cities of western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia reached their peaks of population and prosperity in the second quarter of the 20th century. The baseball teams from these towns formed the Middle Atlantic League, the strongest circuit in the low minors and the one with the most alumni to advance to the majors. This thorough history chronicles the MAL through three distinct phases from its 1925 inaugural season to its dissolution in 1952. During the first several seasons, most clubs hung one step from financial disaster despite support from local communities. Then the league flourished during the Great Depression as president Elmer Daily magically found investors and night baseball boosted working class attendance. Now enjoying a modicum of financial stability and an infusion of young talent, the clubs became talent farms for major league teams. Both the league and its cities went into decline as the country underwent seismic cultural and economic shifts following World War II.




West Virginia Baseball


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West Virginia sprang into existence as a state in the midst of the Civil War, and "base ball," as it was called then, was close on the heels of statehood. A game in 1866 hosted by the Hunkidori Base Ball Club in Wheeling, is considered the first "match game of Base Ball." Some historians contend the game spread via the movement of soldiers who were from urban areas. The real roots of baseball are not the romantic image of rural boys in sandlots or lazy father-son afternoons. It was born and came of age as an urban sport, a social pursuit of well-heeled young men that in the early days often involved banquets and shows following each game. The author traces the history of minor league and independent league baseball in West Virginia. Baseball below the minor leagues has a rich and comparatively unexplored history, and West Virginia has made substantial contributions to this legacy. Chapters examine the chronological history of baseball and the larger economic and cultural changes that have influenced it. Eras include baseball as a social game (through 1873); the emergence of professional baseball (through 1895); its second boom (through 1905); the deadball era (through 1920); the Martinsburg dynasty (1914 to 1934); as a miners' sport (1920 to 1941); the Middle Atlantic League (1925-1942); the Mountain State League (1937-1942); the postwar years (1945-1955); the nadir (1955-1985); and "A Minor Miracle" (1985-2000), a chapter that heralds a comeback in the popularity of professional baseball.




Bristol


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Images of America: Bristol celebrates the history of the town known as "A Good Place to Live." Joseph A. Anderson bought land on the Virginia-Tennessee border from his father-in-law, Rev. James King, and founded Bristol in 1852. Just four years later, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad came to Bristol, and the town became a major trading center of the Appalachian region. During the Civil War, Bristol was a vital railway link between the North and the South, and it later became known as the birthplace of country music. Readers are sure to enjoy viewing over 200 vintage photographs of the train station, the Carter Family, the King family, Virginia Intermont College, and King College, as well as homes and people from all walks of life. The S. E. Massengill drug manufacturing company shown on the cover is among the highlighted industries.




Cracks in the Outfield Wall


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The best-known story of integration in baseball is Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color line in 1947 after coming up through the minor leagues the previous year. His story, however, differs from those of the many players who integrated the game in the Jim Crow South at all professional levels. Chris Holaday offers readers the first book-length history of baseball's integration in the Carolinas, showing its slow and unsteady progress, narrating the experience of players in a range of distinct communities, detailing the influence of baseball executives at the local and major league levels, and revealing that the changing structure of the professional baseball system allowed the major leagues to control integration at the state level. Holaday illuminates many smaller stories along the way, including desegregation in Little League and American Legion baseball, the first Black players to play in the tiny foothills town of Granite Falls, North Carolina, and the pipeline of Afro-Cuban players from Havana to the Carolina leagues. By showing how race and the national pastime intersected at the local level, Holaday offers readers new context to understand the long struggle of equality in the game.




Minor League All-Star Teams, 1922-1962


Book Description

Long before strip malls, television and huge retail chains homogenized American culture, minor league baseball clubs represented individual, local ideals. Fans turned out in droves to see their hometown heroes, and teams were sources of civic pride and popular recreation. Gradually, these teams and leagues were either driven under or swallowed up by baseball's vertical integration, and by 1963 a significant piece of the American landscape had all but disappeared. This heavily researched reference work covers every official minor league All-Star team from 1922 (when the first such team was named) to 1962 (the last year of the AAA-D classification system). Each entry includes the full roster of an All-Star team, complete individual hitting and pitching statistics, and detailed commentary on the selections. Where sabermetrics indicate more-deserving players were passed over, the author presents the case for alternative candidates.




The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals


Book Description

The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals were one of the most colorful crews ever to play the National Pastime. Sportswriters delighted in assigning nicknames to the players, based on their real or imagined qualities. What a cast of characters it was! None was more picturesque than Pepper Martin, the “Wild Horse of the Osage,” who ran the bases with reckless abandon, led his team­mates in off­ the­field hi­jinks, and organized a hillbilly band called the Mississippi Mudcats. He was quite a baseball player, the star of the 1931 World Series and a significant contributor to the 1934 championship. The harmonica player for the Mudcats was the irrepressible Dizzy Dean. Full of braggadocio, Dean delivered on his boasts by winning 30 games in 1934, the last National League hurler to achieve that feat. Dizzy and his brother Paul accounted for all of the Cardinal victories in the 1934 World Series. Some writers tried to pin the moniker Daffy on Paul, but that name didn’t fit the younger and much quieter brother. The club’s hitters were led by the New Jersey strong boy, Joe “Ducky” Medwick, who hated the nickname, preferring to be called “Muscles.” Presiding over this aggregation was the “Fordham Flash,” Frankie Frisch. Rounding out the club were worthies bearing such nicknames as Ripper, “Leo the Lip,” Spud, Kiddo, Pop, Dazzy, Ol’ Stubblebeard, Wild Bill, Buster, Chick, Red, and Tex. Some of these were aging stars, past their prime, and others were youngsters, on their way up. Together they comprised a championship ball club. “The Gas House Gang was the greatest baseball club I ever saw. They thought they could beat any ballclub and they just about could too. When they got on that ballfield, they played baseball, and they played it to the hilt too. When they slid, they slid hard. There was no good fellowship between them and the opposition. They were just good, tough ballplayers.” — Cardinals infielder Burgess Whitehead on "When It Was A Game," HBO Sports, 1991




Thar's Joy in Braveland


Book Description

"You talk about destiny, well, you can't rule that out. We were hard-nosed and that showed up in 1957." -- Braves catcher Del Crandall to editor Gregory H. Wolf Few teams in baseball history have captured the hearts of their fans like the Milwaukee Braves of the 19505. During the Braves' 13-year tenure in Milwaukee (1953-1965), they had a winning record every season, won two consecutive NL pennants (1957 and 1958), lost two more in the final week of the season (1956 and 1959), and set big-league attendance records along the way. This book celebrates the Milwaukee Braves' historic 1957 World Series championship season. Led by the bats of National League Most Valuable Player Henry Aaron and slugging third baseman Eddie Mathews and the "Big Three" pitching trio (Cy Young Award winner Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, and Bob Buhl) the Braves won 95 games. The team enjoyed standout seasons by shortstop Johnny Logan, outfielder Wes Covington, and catcher Del Crandall And GM John Quinn pulled off the biggest trade of the summer, acquiring All-Star second baseman Red Schoendienst from the New York Giants. The Braves cemented their place in history by defeating the New York Yankees in the World Series. In one of the greatest performances in the history of the fall classic, crafty Lew Burdette tossed his second consecutive shutout (and third complete game) to defeat the Bronx Bombers in Game Seven, in Yankee Stadium. A collaborative effort of 32 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Thar's Joy in Braveland! The 1957 Milwaukee Braves portrays that memorable team with life stories of all of the roster players, the manager and coaching staff, the owner, the general manager, and sportswriters and radio announcers. Summaries of the regular season and World Series re-create the magic of that unforgettable season. Table of Contents: Introduction:The Milwaukee Braves Make History by Gregory H Wolf From Yawkey to Milwaukee: Lou Perini Makes his Move by Saul Wisnia THE BRAVES Henry “Hank” Aaron by William Johnson Joe Adcock by Gregory H Wolf Bill Bruton by John Harry Stahl Bob Buhl by Gregory H Wolf Lew Burdette by Alex Kupfer Dick Cole by Doug Engleman Gene Conley by John R Husman Wes Covington by Andy Sturgill Del Crandall by Gregory H Wolf Ray Crone by Gregory H Wolf John DeMerit by Steven Schmitt Harry Hanebrink by Andy Sturgill Bob Hazle by Nancy Snell Griffith Joey Jay by Joe Wancho Ernie Johnson by Dana Sprague Dave Jolly by Chip Greene Nippy Jones by Dan Fields Johnny Logan by Bob Buege Bobby Malkmus by Gregory H Wolf Felix Mantilla by Rick Schabowski Eddie Mathews by David Fleitz Don McMahon by John Vorperian Red Murff by Michael J Bielawa Danny O’Connell by Mel Marmer Andy Pafko by Dale Voiss Phil Paine by Chip Greene Taylor Phillips by Rick Schabowski Juan Pizarro by Rory Costello Del Rice by Norm King Mel Roach by David Fleitz Carl Sawatski by Gregory H Wolf Red Schoendienst by Kristen Lokemoen Ray Shearer by William Johnson Warren Spahn by Jim Kaplan Chuck Tanner by Dan Fields Hawk Taylor by Steven Schmitt Bobby Thomson by Jeff Findley Frank Torre by Norm King Bob Trowbridge by Nancy Snell Griffith THE MANAGER Fred Haney by Jim Gordon THE COACHES Bob Keely by Gregory H Wolf Johnny Riddle by Nancy Snell Griffith Charlie Root by Gregory H Wolf Connie Ryan by John McMurray GENERAL MANAGER John Quinn by Rory Costello County Stadium by Gregg Hoffmann Jane Jarvis by Rory Costello THE SPORTSWRITERS Headlines and Deadlines: Wordsmiths of the Braves by Bob Buege Lou Chapman by Bob Buege Red Thisted by Bob Buege Bob Wolf by Bob Buege RADIO ANNOUNCERS Voices of the Braves: Blaine Walsh and Earl Gillespie by Bob Buege REGULAR SEASON SUMMARY The Milwaukee Braves Season Timeline and Summary by Gregory H Wolf WORLD SERIES SUMMARY World Series Summary by Norm King By the Numbers: Milwaukee Braves in 1957 by Dan Fields Thirteen Years of Magic by Bob Buege




The Baseball Bibliography


Book Description

"With over 57,000 entries, this two-volume set is the most comprehensive non-electronic, non-database, print bibliography on any American sport. Represented here are books and monographs, scholarly papers, government documents, doctoral dissertations, masters' theses, poetry and fiction, novels, pro team yearbooks, college and professional All-Star Game and World Series programs, commercially produced yearbooks, and periodical and journal articles"--Provided by publisher.




2019 Minor League Baseball Analyst


Book Description

The first book of its kind to fully integrate sabermetrics and scouting, the 2019 Minor League Baseball Analyst provides a distinctive brand of analysis for more than 1,000 minor league baseball players. Features include scouting reports for all players, batter skills ratings, pitch repertoires, performance trends, major league equivalents, and expected major league debuts. A complete sabermetric glossary is also included. This one-of-a-kind reference is ideally suited for baseball analysts and those who play in fantasy leagues with farm systems.