In 1965 George Gmelch signed a contract to play professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers organization. Growing up sheltered in an all-white, affluent San Francisco suburb, he knew little of the world outside. Over the next four seasons, he came of age in baseball's Minor Leagues through experiences ranging from learning the craft of the professional game to becoming conscious of race and class for the first time. Playing with Tigers is not a typical baseball memoir. Now a well-known anthropologist, Gmelch recounts a baseball education unlike any other as he got to know small-town life across the United States against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, civil rights protests, and the emergence of the counterculture. The social and political turmoil of the times spilled into baseball, and Gmelch experienced the consequences firsthand as he played out his career in the Jim Crow South. Playing with Tigers captures the gritty, insular, and humorous life and culture of Minor League baseball during a period when both the author and the country were undergoing profound changes. Drawing from journals he kept as a player, letters, and recent interviews with thirty former teammates, coaches, club officials, and even former girlfriends, Gmelch immerses the reader in the life of the Minor Leagues, capturing--in a manner his unique position makes possible--the universal struggle of young athletes trying to make their way.

This book carefully examines the careers of the fifty men who made the greatest impact on one of the most successful franchises in the history of professional sports. Features of The 50 Greatest Players in Detroit Tigers History include quotes from opposing players and former teammates, summaries of each player’s best season, recaps of their most memorable performances, and listings of their notable achievements.

Here's an animal lover's one-stop source for in-depth information on tigers! What do they eat? How do they behave? Are they at risk? This book also includes loads of fun and fascinating facts about tigers, as well as maps, charts, and wonderful photographs of these fearsome creatures.

Contributed articles.

Despite the political instability characterizing twentieth-century Taiwan, the value of baseball in the lives of Taiwanese has been a constant since the game was introduced in 1895. The game first gained popularity on the island under the Japanese occupation, and that popularity continued after World War II despite the withdrawal of the Japanese and an official lack of support from the new state power, the Chinese Nationalist Party. The remarkable success of Taiwanese Little League teams in the 1970s and 1980s cemented Taiwan’s relationship with the game. Taiwanese native Junwei Yu’s Playing in Isolation presents a comprehensive account of that relationship. While giving due credit to the great successes in Taiwanese baseball, Yu also addresses the scandals and controversies that have plagued the sport, including game fixing, improper recruitment practices, and the age-deception fiasco that tainted Taiwan’s seventeen Little League World Series wins. In addition Yu draws attention to the influence traditional culture exerts on parental support of sports versus education and more sedentary occupations. Drawing on detailed research and personal experience, Yu provides a rare, honest look at the reality of baseball in Taiwan and offers an insider’s perspective on a unique part of baseball history.