For more than a hundred years, baseball has been woven into the American way of life. By the time they reach high school, children have learned about the struggles and triumphs of players like Jackie Robinson. Generations of family members often gather together to watch their favorite athletes in stadiums or on TV. Famous players like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Cal Ripken, and Derek Jeter have shown their athletic prowess on the field and captured the hearts of millions of fans, while the sport itself has influenced American culture like no other athletic endeavor. In Baseball and American Culture: A History, John P. Rossi builds on the research and writing of four generations of baseball historians. Tracing the intimate connections between developments in baseball and changes in American society, Rossi examines a number of topics including: *the spread of the sport from the North to the South during the Civil War *the impact on the sport during the Depression and World War II *baseball's expansion in the post-war years *the role of baseball in the Civil Rights movement *the sport's evolution during the modern era Complimented by supplementary readings and discussion questions linked to each chapter, this book pays special attention to the ways in which baseball has influenced American culture and values. Baseball and American Culture is the ultimate resource for students, scholars, and fans interested in how this classic sport has helped shape the nation.
Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Baseball's Origins Additional Readings: Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide 1908 and Bats, Balls, and Bullets: Baseball and the Civil War by George B. Kirsch Chapter 2: Baseball Becomes a Business, 1876-1892 Additional Readings: Out at Home: Baseball Draws the Color Line by Jerry Malloy and Casey at the Bat Chapter 3: Monopoly Baseball and the Rise of the American League, 1891-1908 Additional Readings: Race and Ethnicity in American Baseball: 1900-1919 by Steven A. Riess and Take Me Out to the Ball Game, 1908 Chapter 4: Baseball's Silver Age Additional Reading: Anatomy of a Murder: The Federal League and the Courts by Gary Hailey Chapter 5: The Roaring Twenties and Baseball's Golden Age Additional Readings: The Babe on Balance by Marshall Smelser and The Judge Who Ruled Baseball by Bruce Watson Chapter 6: Depression and World War II, 1931-1945 Additional Readings: The History of Women's Baseball by Kerry Candaele and Baseball and World War II: A Study of the Landis-Roosevelt Correspondence by James A. Percoco Chapter 7: Boom, Bust, and Expansion, 1946-1960 Additional Reading: Blacks in Major League Baseball: The Experience of the First Generation, 1947-1961 by John Rossi Chapter 8: Baseball's New Frontier, 1961-1977 Additional Readings: A Tale of Many Cities: The Westward Expansion of Major League Baseball in the 1950s by Lee Elihu Lowenfish and Walter O'Malley Was Right by Paul Hirsch Chapter 9: The End of Baseball Innocence Additional Reading: The Quest of Marvin Miller: A Briefcase for a Lance by Lawrence Richards Chapter 10: Late Innings: Baseball Enters the New Century, 1994-2017 Additional Reading: Totally Juiced: Confessions of a Former MVP by Tom Verducci Index Bibliography About the Author
