A history of baseball as a sport and business during the middle of the twentieth century, examining the game on and off the field and tracing its development within the broader contours of American history.

Pepper Martin, the "Wild Horse of the Osage," is most famous for having dominated the October 1931 World Series--stealing bases, sliding on his chest, making diving catches, and driving in runs. He also captivated many Americans in the Depression Era with his homegrown honesty and love of pranks. To many, he epitomized the very spirit of baseball. This biography follows Martin's rise from Oklahoma farmboy, buying his first glove with money from a paper route, to being one of America's most successful and beloved professionals. It closes with an account of his coaching career in Florida and his death in 1965, a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and a loving grandfather. The work includes accounts of important games and intimate glimpses of his romance with his wife and the arrivals of his daughters. Information is drawn from research on the careers of key players and managers from the Cardinals, back issues of periodicals, and interviews with Don Gutterridge, Martin's teammate.

"With over 57,000 entries, this two-volume set is the most comprehensive non-electronic, non-database, print bibliography on any American sport. Represented here are books and monographs, scholarly papers, government documents, doctoral dissertations, masters' theses, poetry and fiction, novels, pro team yearbooks, college and professional All-Star Game and World Series programs, commercially produced yearbooks, and periodical and journal articles"--Provided by publisher.

Presents a history of the Negro Leagues, from their inception to the integration of black players into Major League Baseball to the eventual demise of the league.