Books for the Baseball Fan in Your Life

Name: Texas Baseball:
Brand: Clay Coppedge
SKU: 9781609495985
Price: 16.49 USD
Availability: InStock

For true lovers of America’s favorite pastime, baseball season never ends. So give your fan a diamond they are sure to love – tales of iconic ballparks past and present (like Shea and Fenway), or stories of their favorite major-league team (like the Reds, or the Dodgers – in either LA or Brooklyn). Our 200+ books on baseball in America touch every corner of the sport, including minor leagues like the Blue Ridge League in the East or the Cactus League in the West—where fans saw Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Willy Mays play before their big-league careers. These books will be a long deep fly to the center of any baseball fan’s heart.

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Texas Baseball:

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

The Galveston Buccaneers: Shearn Moody and the 1934 Texas League Championship

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Baseball in Fort Worth

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Texas League Baseball Almanac

$19.99 $14.99 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in Houston and Southeast Texas

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Baseball on the Prairie:

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in the Alamo Region

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Baseball in Dallas

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in El Paso

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Ross Youngs:

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in South Texas

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Cleburne Baseball

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Texas Baseball:

9781609495985

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

From pioneering superstars like Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby and Negro League standouts Smokey Joe Williams and Willie Well to present-day luminaries like Nolan Ryan, Texas has played a crucial role in the evolution of the national pastime. The Lone Star love of baseball stretches back to the Civil War. What began as friendly town games led to the formation of the Texas League in 1888, though it would be almost eight decades before the arrival of the Colt .45s, Texas's first major-league team, and another forty-three years until the Astros played in the World Series. From scrappers on the red dirt diamonds to the big-league stars of the Astros and Rangers, veteran sportswriter Clay Coppedge traces the state's long love affair with the sport in this first-ever comprehensive look at Texas baseball.

The Galveston Buccaneers: Shearn Moody and the 1934 Texas League Championship

9781626198371

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Galveston survived the Great Depression with a healthy dose of baseball, boll weevils and bootleg business. Farmers like future Galveston Buccaneers star Buck Fausett fled the insect infestation of North Texas for the city's sunny shores along with throngs of visitors eager to visit Sam Maceo's clubs and catch a ballgame. Galvestonians had a long love affair with America's favorite pastime, fielding the first game played in the state. Cotton heir Shearn Moody purchased the Buccaneers in 1931 and turned the languishing squad into a dominating force that won the 1934 Texas League Championship. Author Kris Rutherford weaves a captivating history of the Moody family, a team of talented players and the island that claimed them.

Baseball in Fort Worth

9780738532417

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In 2003, over 160,000 fans watched professional baseball in downtown Fort Worth's near north side. Baseball, which had been played in this north side area since 1911, had returned after a near 40-year absence. Fort Worth's rich tradition of professional baseball dates back to the start of the Texas League of Professional Baseball Clubs in 1888 and includes many players who continued to impact our national pastime at the major league level.

Presenting over 170 photographs, programs, and maps this volume documents not only the play on the field, but the fun and excitement off the field as well. The book contains a chapter on Fort Worth's black baseball history, which dates back to the turn of the 20th century, and includes the new discovery of a forgotten ballpark dedicated to the black players and leagues of the early 1900s. Though the details are difficult to trace, this chapter showcases the pride the players demonstrated at the local level and the force they became in the national Negro leagues.

The Texas League Baseball Almanac

9781626190658

$19.99 $14.99 Save 25%

Since forming in 1888, the Texas League has produced some of the most beloved American baseball players and seen more than its fair share of colorful events. In 1931, Houston pitcher Dizzy Dean pitched and won both ends of a double-header in Fort Worth, throwing a three-hit shutout in the second game. In 1906, center fielder Tris Speaker pitched for Cleburne to beat Temple 10-3. In 1998, Arkansas' Tyrone Horne hit for the homer cycle" in San Antonio, finishing to a standing ovation. "The Texas League Baseball Almanac" delivers day by day the record-breaking events, personal triumphs and memorable games that helped to shape baseball in the region. Join authors David King and Tom Kayser on a nine-inning trip down one of minor-league baseball's most historic institutions, both in season and off. ."

Mexican American Baseball in Houston and Southeast Texas

9781467126359

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in Houston and Southeast Texas pays tribute to the baseball and softball players and teams from Houston, Sugar Land, Texas City, Richmond, and other surrounding communities in the region. Since the early 1900s, this game has had an important role in the lives of area Mexican Americans. In the Houston barrios, when entrenched discriminatory practices obstructed city unity, the diamond brought people together. In the Sugar Land region, Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Anglos worked and played together, blurring racial lines. Baseball and softball built community pride and connected generations of Mexican American families. The wonderful stories and breathtaking images in this book help resurrect the rich and little-known history of Mexican American baseball and softball in this key part of Texas.

Baseball on the Prairie:

9781609499358

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

At the close of the nineteenth century, railroad expansion in Texas at once shrank the state and expanded opportunities, including that of Texas League Baseball. Previously, the major cities monopolized Texas minor-league ball, but with the rails came small-town teams without which the league may have floundered. Sherman, Denison, Paris, Corsicana, Cleburne, Greenville and Temple teams produced some of the Texas League's greatest players and provided unprecedented statewide interest. The 1902 Corsicana Oil Citys was one of the most successful teams of the time, claiming the second-best winning percentage and baseball's most lopsided victory, 51-3 over Texarkana's Casketmakers. In its only year in the league, Cleburne won the league championship and team owner Doak Roberts discovered the great Tris Speaker. Kris Rutherford pieces together the Texas League's early days and the people and towns that made this centuries-old institution possible.

Mexican American Baseball in the Alamo Region

9781467133388

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in the Alamo Region celebrates the game as it was played in the Tejano and Tejana communities throughout Texas. This regional focus explores the importance of the game at a time when Spanish-speaking people were demanding cultural acceptance and their political and civil rights in cities like San Antonio, Corpus Christi, New Braunfels, San Diego, Kingsville, and Pleasanton. All had thriving Mexican American communities that found comfort in the game and pride in their abilities on the field. On these pages are historical images and wonderful stories that are now immortalized, taking their rightful place in the annuals of the game. ¡Viva Tejas, Viva Béisbol, y Viva los Peloteros!

Baseball in Dallas

9780738532820

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The city of Dallas has a rich baseball history extending back to the 1870s when the professional game first found roots in Texas. In 1888, the Dallas Hams were a founding member (and first champion) of the professional Texas League. With the major leagues far away to the north, a relationship was established between the city of Dallas and one of America's premier minor league. It lasted on and off until 1971, when the Texas Rangers entered Major League Baseball. During that by-gone era, players like Curley Maloney, Jewel Ens, and Zeke Bonura were the heroes for countless local baseball fans. Hall of Famers Ted Williams (as manager), Fergie Jenkins, and Nolan Ryan all spent time in a Rangers' uniform. In more recent times, Ranger players like Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, and Ivan Rodriguez have become heroes to baseball fans across the nation.

Mexican American Baseball in El Paso

9781467126601

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in El Paso chronicles the vibrant and colorful history of baseball in the El Paso-Juárez border region. For more than a century, baseball along the border has served as a means of bringing together people of all backgrounds, races, and nationalities, from the fly-by-night teams of the Pancho Villa era to the fabled semiprofessional clubs of the Lower Valley League. For the area's Mexican and Mexican American citizens, storied teams like the Juárez Indios, Fabens Merchants, 1949 Bowie Bears, and El Paso Diablos served as both community rallying points and signposts of cultural identity. From the legendary semiprofessional players of decades past to the most recent major leaguers, this book presents the photographic history of baseball in America's largest border community.

Ross Youngs:

9781626191105

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Though Ross Youngs has been enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 1972, few have given his remarkable career its due. Born in Shiner and raised in San Antonio, Youngs played his first game as a professional at the age of sixteen, and just three years later, his contract was purchased by the New York Giants, one of baseball's elite teams in the early twentieth century. Tragically, his promising career ended when he died from an illness at age thirty in 1927. Join author David King in a journey to discover the amazing Youngs as he was and the incredible legacy he left behind.

Mexican American Baseball in South Texas

9781467116640

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Mexican American Baseball in South Texas pays tribute to the former baseball teams and players from Edinburg, McAllen, Mission, Pharr, Donna, Alamo, San Juan, Brownsville, Harlingen, and other surrounding communities. From the late 19th century through the 1950s, baseball in South Texas provided opportunities for nurturing athletic and educational skills, reaffirming ethnic identity, promoting political self-determination, developing economic autonomy, and reshaping gender roles for women. Games were special times where Mexican Americans found refuge from backbreaking work and prejudice. These unmatched photographs and stories shed light on the rich history of baseball in this region of Texas.

Cleburne Baseball

9781467137010

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Shortly after Cleburne landed the largest railroad shops west of the Mississippi, it set its sights on securing a professional baseball team. Against the odds, Cleburne became a Texas League town in 1906. After the first championship, the Railroaders loaded a train and left Cleburne. The town's professional teams would amass two championships, three pennants and several legendary major league players, including Tris Speaker, before disappearing. Despite lacking a professional club, the town continued to field teams at all levels, until the Railroaders made their triumphant return in 2017. Scott Cain shares a century of Cleburne baseball, including the cowboys who gunned down fly balls to intimidate umps, the pro team that played the Chicago White Sox and the city councilman who was a scorekeeper for the Negro Leagues in the 1950s.