About the Book This book walks readers through the experience of going to a major league ball game, describing what the reader will see, hear, and smell, as well as a kid-friendly description of the action on the field. This is coupled with photographs of major league stadiums with an interesting fact about that stadium and an outline map of the U.S. with an arrow pointing to its location. This book aims to show kids- and remind their parents- what fun a trip to the ballpark can be! About the Author When Leslie Roberts was very young, she remembers walking home from school and finding her mother watching the Brooklyn Dodgers play in the World Series. She became a lifelong fan of all levels of baseball. Her three sons and their wives organized her 50th wedding anniversary celebration at a Triple-A baseball game--and she threw out the first pitch! Roberts spent over 30 years as a teacher and a principal and still volunteers regularly as a reading tutor in two local schools.

This book is a record of the men and events, team by team, during Major League Baseball's integration. It focuses especially on the owners, executives and managers who were the heroes, villains or spectators of integration, and it sheds new light on the unheralded champions of integration and on those whose culpability has so far been overlooked. Individual chapters cover each of baseball's integration-era teams, and a final chapter covers expansion teams of the 1960s. Each team's responsible individuals are examined, its acquisition, deployment and treatment of black players documented, and the effect of its integration actions on team performance analyzed. Appendices provide populations of integration-era Major League cities, first black players by team, first black players in various minor leagues, rosters of black players by team, a timeline of black player milestones, and a list of black All-Star selections through 1969.

This study considers the importance of location for new and relocated major league franchises in the more than 130 years since the National League was founded. Included are an analysis of market differences and similarities, team performances and demographics and area economic comparisons. Market data are used to predict future expansions and relocations of major league teams.

When Jackie Robinson made his debut at Ebbets Field on opening day in 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first major league team with a black player anywhere in its organization. By the end of the Golden Era of baseball, a period in and around the 1950s, there would be an unprecedented number of notable black players in the major leagues, including Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson. While this era is defined by integration, it was also the age of the “boys of summer” Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankee dominance, and the first major change in the geographic landscape of the big leagues in half a century. In The Golden Era of Major League Baseball: A Time of Transition and Integration, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte explores the significant events and momentous changes that took place in baseball from 1947 to 1960. Beginning with Jackie Robinson’s rookie season in 1947, Soderholm-Difatte provides a careful and thorough examination of baseball’s integration, including the struggles of black players who were not elite to break into the starting lineups. In addition, the author looks at the dying practice of player-managers, the increasing use of relief pitchers and platooning, the iconic 1951 pennant race between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, and more. Soderholm-Difatte also tells the stories of three central characters to this era, whose innovations, strategies, and vision changed the game—Branch Rickey, who challenged the baseball establishment by integrating the Dodgers; Casey Stengel, whose 1949-1953 Yankees won five straight championships; and Leo Durocher, whose spy operations was a major factor in the Giants’ 1951 pennant surge. In an age when baseball was at the forefront of American society, integration would come to be the foremost legacy of the Golden Era. But this was also a time of innovative strategy, from the use of pinch hitters to frequent defensive substitutions. Concluding with an overview of how baseball is still evolving today, The Golden Era of Major League Baseball will be of interest to baseball fans and historians as well as to scholars examining the history of integration in sports.

In the 1970s, after a decade of stagnant fan interest that seemed to signal the demise of Major League Baseball, the game saw growth and change. In 1972, the players became the first in professional sports to go on strike. Four years later, contractual changes allowed those with six years in the majors to become free agents, leading to an unprecedented increase in salaries. Developments in the play of the game included new ballparks with faster fields and artificial turf, and the introduction of the designated hitter in 1973. Eminent personalities emerged from the dugout, including many African Americans and Latinos. Focusing on the stars who debuted from 1970 through 1979, this book covers the highs and lows of more than 1,300 players who gave fans the most exciting decade baseball has ever seen.

This book analyzes and highlights the development and success of major league baseball teams in the National League and the American League, focusing on each team’s performance in seasons and postseasons and to what extent each succeeded as a business enterprise despite competition for market share from other types of entertainment. The book discusses historical and financial information about the 30 major league franchises. Each chapter contains two core themes—Team Performances and Franchise Business. The former highlights which and how teams won division and league championships and World Series while the latter lists and compares financial data including their revenue, gate receipts, and operating income and describes interesting business topics. Each chapter also provides an overview of when each franchise organized and why it joined MLB, a brief profile of its current majority owner or ownership group, records of teams’ special coaches and players, attendances at home games, and how their ballparks rank as a venue for fans. Baseball Business explains why particular teams located in large, midsized, or small markets win more games and titles than others and when and how frequently that occurs. Furthermore, it provides ways to compare franchises’ financial success individually, by division, and by league. By linking and comparing the historical performances of MLB teams to financial information about them as business organizations, this book offers a unique contribution to the literature on the sports industry.

When Pedro Martinez won his first Cy Young Award with the Boston Red Sox in 1999 many people in the baseball world claimed it to be one of, if not, the greatest pitching achievement of all-time. Though a remarkable campaign it hardly ranks as the greatest ever. This book lists in order the top 150 pitching performances for a single season between the years 1900-1999. Based on the grading system developed for this book Pedro’s season ranks as the 45th best season for a pitcher. Who is the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball? Is it Walter Johnson or Christy Mathewson? Some may argue for Roger Clemens or Nolan Ryan. The debate as to the best ever will continue but the chapter comparing pitchers of today and yesteryear will offer some new insights. This book will truly interest the baseball enthusiast because it offers clear and interesting data. Plus the measuring stick used for the rankings is not based on opinion, potential or favoritism but rather on fair and unbiased criteria. Eighty-seven pitchers (biographies included), from the famous to the one season wonders, make up the list of the greatest 150 pitching seasons. Included as well are brief summaries of an additional 130 pitchers.

While Reading may be known today for the Fightin' Phils, it has also been the site of 72 games played by 17 major-league franchises and barnstorming teams since 1874. Among the teams that have played in these exhibition games are the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals, along with appearances by baseball greats Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks, and Rogers Hornsby. Reading fans have looked on as both the 1906 Phillies and A's tried to catch a bunny on the field mid-game, cheered for Christy Mathewson's shutouts, sang "Happy Birthday" to Pete Rose, and watched "Shoeless" Joe Jackson hit a home run.