Books for the Baseball Fan in Your Life

Name: The 1919 Black Sox Scandal
Brand: Dan Helpingstine
SKU: 9781467103763
Price: 24.99 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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The 1919 Black Sox Scandal

Red Sox in 5s and 10s

Detroit Tigers Gone Wild

Baseball in Evansville

Gotham Baseball

Mexican American Baseball on the Westside of Los Angeles

The 1919 Black Sox Scandal

9781467103763

$24.99

All kinds of spurious rumors had swirled around the 1919 World Series. Allegations about a fixed game between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies on August 31, 1920, began a chain of events that led to a grand jury indicting eight White Sox players for conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds the year before. Outside the courtroom, Shoeless Joe Jackson, just coming off his best overall offensive season with .382 average, was reportedly confronted by a young fan pleading for a denial from his hero. Jackson would later deny the encounter ever occurred and also deny any guilt in the World Series fix. In the almost 100 years since eight White Sox players were banned for life, there has been little historical closure due to a fleeting consensus on a scandal that almost took down Major League Baseball.

Red Sox in 5s and 10s

9781467145084

$24.99

The Boston Red Sox have blown hot and cold over the decades. These lists of Top 5s and 10s cover both the highs and lows of a team that has endured a long history of both joy and sorrow. They won the first World Series ever played and then five more pennants in the next fifteen years. Famously, from 1918 until the magical year of 2004, the Sox endured eighty-six seasons without a championship, although they lost pennants and world championships on the last possible day more times than fans care to remember. Finally, in 2004, they won it all. Loyal fans will always remember the joy of Mo Vaughn's grand slam on opening day in 1998 and will likely never forget the agony of Game 6 in 1986. Through it all, unforgettable names like Buckner, Yaz, Tony C. and Big Papi still resonate in the shadows of Fenway Park. From the greatest pitchers to the worst opening days, author Bill Nowlin recounts the highs and lows of Boston's most celebrated sports franchise.

Detroit Tigers Gone Wild

9781467143295

$21.99

The Detroit Tigers came out of the womb scratching and snarling. Early owner James D. Burns orchestrated the only known arrest of a journalist while covering a game. It's the only Major League franchise to sign a star player out of prison, which happened twice. Ex-Tigers have done time for crimes ranging from armed robbery to racketeering-and worse. One tried to burn and dismember a group of men after they kidnapped his mother. Another threatened to blow up a cruise ship unless he was paid a sizeable ransom. And Detroit legend Ty Cobb ran afoul of the law several times during his brilliant, tumultuous and often mischaracterized career. Join Detroit News writer George Hunter on a foray into the darkest, unruliest and sometimes funniest moments in Tigers history.

Baseball in Evansville

9781467145589

$21.99

Baseball exploded in Evansville after the Civil War. Early clubs like the Resolutes, Blues, Brewers, Hoosiers and Blackbirds played, built ballparks, struggled financially and suffered scandals until the early 1900s. A near tragic event fueled the 1915 construction of Bosse Field, now the third-oldest professional ballpark in operation and the host to Major League Spring Training and the filming of A League of Their Own. After World War II, college baseball returned after lying dormant since the 1920s. In the late 1960s, a local entrepreneur attempted to build a third major league. When he failed, the city ascended to the minor leagues' highest level. Join sportswriter and Evansville native Kevin Wirthwein as he recounts baseball's illustrious history in the River City.

Gotham Baseball

9781467141635

$21.99

Baseball may be the great American pastime, but in New York, it is a religion. Names like Ruth, Mays, Gehrig, Wright and Robinson live in the hearts and minds of New York fans like apostles. From the street corner to the subway car, debates about which Yankee, Giant, Dodger or Met is better than another have raged on for more than one hundred years. Now, the best of the best are chosen for each position as New York's all-time greatest team is imagined. Shoo-ins like the Babe and Jackie have their stories told with a fresh perspective. The compelling case for Mike Piazza, not Yogi Berra, as catcher is sure to spark arguments. Sportswriter Mark Healey crafts the Gotham baseball team through captivating tales of the legends of the New York game.

Mexican American Baseball on the Westside of Los Angeles

9781467103312

$24.99

Mexican American Baseball on the Westside of Los Angeles pays homage to the teams, players, coaches, and umpires in Santa Monica, Culver City, Venice, West Los Angeles, and other surrounding communities who brought immeasurable respect and nonstop enjoyment to their loving families, unwavering fans, and pride-filled neighborhoods. From the 1920s to the present, baseball and softball have provided far-reaching educational opportunities, reaffirmed ethnic identity, restructured gender roles for women, promoted political self-determination, and developed economic autonomy. Games were exceptional times when Mexican Americans found safe haven from exhausting labor and blatant discrimination. These unparalleled photographs and significant stories spread extra light on the bountiful history of this distinctive region of Los Angeles.