The National Game: Baseball and American Culture

John Rossi offers not only an expert overview of baseball over the past 175 years; he shows how the game has reflected and contributed to changes in American society over time. The National Game chronicles baseball's popular successes and financial failures; its interleague wars and continuing struggles between owners and players; and its accommodations to radio and television—without neglecting the colorful players and managers who have won the hearts of fans. A succinct, knowledgeable synopsis...recommended. —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post As a part of popular culture, sport has made a deep impression in American life. And nowhere is this clearer than in baseball, the game that seems to transcend generations and has made its way into our language and literature. In The National Game, John Rossi offers not only an expert overview of baseball over the past 175 years; he shows how the game has reflected and contributed to changes in American society over that time. The country grew up playing baseball, Mr. Rossi notes, but the professional game took hold in the cities of the Northeast just as the nation was transforming itself from a rural to an urban society. Essentially a middle-class attempt to create a club sport, the game began early on to integrate immigrant groups—and over the years it became an important pathway to acceptance for all kinds of outsiders. The National Game chronicles baseball's popular successes and financial failures; its interleague wars and continuing struggles between owners and players; and its accommodations to radio and television—without neglecting the colorful players and managers who have won the hearts of fans. For a readable, concise history of the game and its place in American culture, Mr. Rossi's book is hard to beat. With 10 black-and-white photographs

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Preface vii Part 2 Origins of the Game 3 Part 3 Baseball as Big Business, 1876-1891 25 Part 4 Coming of Age, 1891-1908 51 Part 5 The Wars of Baseball, 1909-1918 75 Part 6 Golden Age, 1919-1931 97 Part 7 Baseball in Depression and War, 1931-1945 121 Part 8 No Golden Age: Baseball, 1946-1960 147 Part 9 Coming Apart, 1961-1977 169 Part 10 Best of Times, Worst of Times, 1978-1994 191 Part 11 The Future of the National Game 211 Part 12 Notes 219 Part 13 A Note on Sources 227 Part 14 Index 236

About the Author :
John P. Rossi is professor emeritus of history at La Salle University in Philadelphia. His baseball writings have appeared in such journals as The Society of American Baseball Research and the International Journal of the History of Sport. Rossi co-wrote the Cambridge Introduction to George Orwell (2012), and his baseball books include A Whole New Game: Off the Field Changes in Baseball, 1946-1960 (1999) and The 1964 Phillies: The Story of Baseball’s Most Memorable Collapse (2005).

Review :
For the real fan, this is an interesting and absorbing book. Stimulating. Not only readable but satisfying to those who are interested in the broader historical context of the sport. Fresh and stimulating insights into the relationship between baseball and American culture. Succinct, knowledgeable...recommended without reservation as an introduction to baseball history.