Black Baseball, 1858-1900: A Comprehensive Record of the Teams, Players, Managers, Owners and Umpires

Black Base Ball: Players, Teams, Managers, Owners and Umpires, 1858-1900 is a comprehensive look at black participation in the national pastime. It provides biographical lists: team rosters and team biographies, player biographies, umpires and games officiated, and addresses of team managers and team secretaries. It documents well-known organizations like Washington's Mutuals, Philadelphia Pythians, Chicago Uniques, St. Louis Black Stockings, Cuban Giants and Chicago Unions, and lesser known aggregations like Wilmington Mutuals, Newton Black Stockings, San Francisco Enterprise, Dallas Black Stockings, Galveston Flyaways, Louisville Brotherhoods, and Helena Pastimes. Player biographies make connections between teams across the country and trace movements across the country. Essays frame the biographies, arguing that social and cultural events shaped black baseball. Waiters and barbers formed the earliest organized clubs and developed local, regional and national circuits. Players belonged to white and colored clubs. Umpires officiated colored, white, and interracial matches. High schools nurtured young players and transformed them into powerhouses, like Cincinnati's Vigilant Base Ball Club. A special essay devotes attention to visual representations of black baseball, and the artists who created them; including colored artists who were also baseballists.

About the Author :
James E. Brunson III is an art historian who specializes in American Modernism. His work has been published in NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, and Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game. A practicing artist who specializes in watercolor painting, he currently teaches visual culture at Northern Illinois University, USA.

Review :
"A monument in baseball literature."--John Thorn, official historian of Major League Baseball. "a comprehensive collection of biographies.... With many think pieces bemoaning the overwhelming 'whiteness' of the national pastime, this title on the black experience with baseball, between the years 1858 and 1900, is timely.... Essays explore historical and cultural events that impacted the sport."--Library Journal "a monumental work"--The Courier "[A] tour de force. James Brunson devoted thirty years to this project, and it shows. We finally have the identification and bringing together of the myriad of teams and many hundreds of black pioneers of baseball who contributed to the birth of the sport.... [F]ills an important gap that those interested in the history of the great American pastime, the story of black baseball, cultural studies, and the African-American struggle will find of immense value."--Donald Spivey, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Miami, author of "If You Were Only White: " The Life of Leroy "Satchel" Paige "A well-researched, ground-breaking guide to African American history in baseball."--Reference and User Services Association "Brunson delivers an extraordinarily well researched guide to African American history in baseball...the level of detail and commitment to this research is impressive...this highly recommended set offers insight into the cultural, political, and historical aspects of African American baseball"--Choice "This exceptional work documents the early history of Black baseball in the United States....excellent essays provide context, covering the value of baseball to company employees and how Black baseball was portrayed in the (predominantly white) media...this groundbreaking reference source serves as a memoir of those who pioneered the sport, despite odds against them"--Booklist