Although largely ignored by historians of both baseball in general and the Negro leagues in particular, Latinos have been a significant presence in organized baseball from the beginning. In this benchmark study on Latinos and professional baseball from the 1880s to the present, Adrian Burgos tells a compelling story of the men who negotiated the color line at every turn—passing as "Spanish" in the major leagues or seeking respect and acceptance in the Negro leagues. Burgos draws on archival materials from the U.S., Cuba, and Puerto Rico, as well as Spanish- and English-language publications and interviews with Negro league and major league players. He demonstrates how the manipulation of racial distinctions that allowed management to recruit and sign Latino players provided a template for Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager Branch Rickey when he initiated the dismantling of the color line by signing Jackie Robinson in 1947. Burgos's extensive examination of Latino participation before and after Robinson's debut documents the ways in which inclusion did not signify equality and shows how notions of racialized difference have persisted for darker-skinned Latinos like Orestes ("Minnie") Miñoso, Roberto Clemente, and Sammy Sosa.

The Routledge History of American Sport provides the first comprehensive overview of historical research in American sport from the early Colonial period to the present day. Considering sport through innovative themes and topics such as the business of sport, material culture and sport, the political uses of sport, and gender and sport, this text offers an interdisciplinary analysis of American leisure. Rather than moving chronologically through American history or considering the historical origins of each sport, these topics are dealt with organically within thematic chapters, emphasizing the influence of sport on American society. The volume is divided into eight thematic sections that include detailed original essays on particular facets of each theme. Focusing on how sport has influenced the history of women, minorities, politics, the media, and culture, these thematic chapters survey the major areas of debate and discussion. The volume offers a comprehensive view of the history of sport in America, pushing the field to consider new themes and approaches as well. Including a roster of contributors renowned in their fields of expertise, this ground-breaking collection is essential reading for all those interested in the history of American sport.

2011 Updated Reprint. Updated Annually. US Gaming Industry Investment and Business Guide

American Sports offers a reflective, analytical history of American sports from the colonial era to the present. Readers will focus on the diverse relationships between sports and class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion and region, and understand how these interactions can bind diverse groups together. By considering the economic, social and cultural factors that have surrounded competitive sports, readers will understand how sports have reinforced or challenged the values and behaviors of society.

This book provides wide-ranging examples of cutting-edge research in sports studies.

This anthology gathers selected papers from the 2006 and 2007 meetings of the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, the long-running academic conference held annually at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Essays in the first of the volume's six sections, "The African American Experience," examine Negro League playing styles as cultural expression, media coverage of Curt Flood's battle against MLB, and autobiographical accounts by Flood and Jackie Robinson that recall slave-narrative tradition. In "The Women's Game" the legacy of Title IX is explored, along with gender constructions at the time of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Teams and their towns are the focus of "Baseball and Community"; essays deal with Dodgertown and Vero Beach, baseball and advertising in Brooklyn, and the baseball identity of a mining town in New Mexico. In "Baseball Ideology" the game's films, wartime rhetoric, and the approaches to its ethnic history are investigated. Essays in "Biography: Baseball Lives" relate the true stories of a Depression-era felon treated to a World Series game at Wrigley and the post-Katrina struggles of pitching great Mel Parnell. Finally, in "The Business of Baseball," essayists gauge the effects of the recent steroids scandal, three decades of free agency, and MLB's new global perspective.

The 2011-2012 volume in the Cooperstown Symposium series is a collection of new scholarly essays that use baseball to examine topics whose import extends beyond the ballpark. The essays represent 16 of the leading presentations from the two most recent proceedings of the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, held on June 1-4, 2011, and May 30-June 1, 2012. The essays are divided into six parts. "Baseball History, Myth, and the American Past" considers the distinction between reality and remembrance. "Decade of Transition: The 1960s in Baseball and America" explores a critical passage in the evolution of the nation and the game. "Baseball Economics: Owners, Profits, and the Public" provides perspectives on sports as business. "Out of the Bleachers: Women Umpiring and Playing" links the game to those who participate and care about it despite the expectations of atavistic gender roles. "Casting the Game: Stage and Screen" examines theatrical and cinematic treatments of baseball. Part 6, "Game of Numbers: Statistical Baseball," examines the sport and its artifacts quantitatively.

Smart Ball follows Major League Baseball's history as a sport, a domestic monopoly, a neocolonial power, and an international business. MLB's challenge has been to market its popular mythology as the national pastime with pastoral, populist roots while addressing the management challenges of competing with other sports and diversions in a burgeoning global economy. Baseball researcher Robert F. Lewis II argues that MLB for years abused its legal insulation and monopoly status through arrogant treatment of its fans and players and static management of its business. As its privileged position eroded eroded in the face of increased competition from other sports and union resistance, it awakened to its perilous predicament and began aggressively courting athletes and fans at home and abroad. Using a detailed marketing analysis and applying the principles of a "smart power" model, the author assesses MLB's progression as a global business brand that continues to appeal to a consumer's sense of an idyllic past in the midst of a fast-paced, and often violent, present.

In 1973, Roberto Clemente was honored as the first baseball player born outside the continental U.S. to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the former Pittsburgh Pirate amassed 3,000 career hits and 240 home runs. Since then, eight more international players of Major League Baseball have been voted into the Hall of Fame, including recent inductees Roberto Alomar (Puerto Rico) and Bert Blyleven (Netherlands). These Hall of Famers are but a few of the many non-native players who have contributed significantly to Major League Baseball, dating all the way back to 1876 and up to the present. Baseball beyond Borders: From Distant Lands to the Major Leagues not only examines the careers of foreign-born and Puerto Rican baseball players, but also goes beyond the players to look at managers, executives, coaches, and officials of Major League Baseball, as well. This book explores the impact and performances of these individuals on MLB and the minor leagues, and their contributions to the expansion and popularity of American baseball in the U.S. and around the world. Baseball beyond Borders offers a historical perspective of when, why, and how emigrants came to play professional baseball in the U.S. and also provides background information on baseball in foreign countries, baseball leagues outside the U.S., and the academies run by MLB on foreign soil. Featuring photographs, statistics, and bios, this unique book presents a comprehensive look at the impact players and staff born outside the U.S. have had on baseball—both in the U.S. and beyond. Baseball fans and sports historians will enjoy reading Baseball beyond Borders, as will anyone wishing to learn more about the influence of foreigners on America’s national pastime.

Shortened Seasons recounts the stories of some of the baseball players who never made it back for the next game, who died with the suddenness of a walk-off homerun. For them, there was no next year. From Hall of Fame caliber players such as Roberto Clemente, Thurman Munson, and Ed Delahanty to players who were still finding their niche in the game like Ken Hubbs, Lyman Bostoc, and Darryl Kile, this book explores the lives and deaths of ball players of all categories and abilities who were struck down at the height of their careers.