National Pastime: U.S. History Through Baseball

In their first book, Babicz and Zeiler, professors of history at the University of Colorado, Boulder, offer a sharp analysis of the history of baseball. The authors first introduce New York City businessman Alexander Cartwright, considered to be the father of modern baseball, who founded the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in the 1840s with members of the Knickerbocker Fire Engine Company. After the Civil War, baseball’s popularity spread to the Midwest, and the number of paid athletes increased (most significantly with the Chicago White Stockings) along with the number of new ballparks. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 dampened the sport’s popularity, but, as the writers note, dynamic personalities such as Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth helped to revive it. In a chapter called “Jackie Robinson and Civil Rights,” the authors focus on the color ban, which relegated African-American players to the Negro Leagues until 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke into the majors with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Using graphs and photos, the authors provide a precise, multidimensional story of how the sport evolved through the advent of radio, television, franchise shifts, free agency, the influx of Latin athletes, and corporate sponsorship. Babicz and Zeiler’s baseball history informs and entertains. (Dec.)