Out of the Shadows

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Out of the Shadows

African American Baseball from the Cuban Giants to Jackie Robinson

Edited and with an introduction by Bill Kirwin

226 pages

Paperback

November 2005

978-0-8032-7825-7

$19.95 Add to Cart

About the Book

For nearly fifteen years NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture has been a leading scholarly journal of baseball history. Covering the cultural and historical implications of America’s national pastime, NINE has explored baseball from the earliest matches and little-known players of the 1800s to the modern billion-dollar industry and its superstars of today. Here, gathered for the first time, are the best essays from NINE that center on the complex and multifaceted topic of African Americans in baseball.
 
This diverse collection offers an enlightening look at African American baseball in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Negro Leagues, and the turmoil surrounding the integration of baseball by Jackie Robinson and others. Influential figures such as the Negro League team owner Effa Manley, the writer Sol White, and the player Don Newcombe are explored, along with Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey. The book features an introduction by NINE founder and editor Bill Kirwin. Represented as well are other respected baseball historians, including the late Jerry Malloy, considered by many to be the leading scholar on nineteenth-century black baseball. Out of the Shadows addresses such themes as the importance of baseball to the African American community, the personal hardships faced by early integrators Robinson and Newcombe, the influence of female owners on the Negro Leagues, and the early days of barnstorming before integration, thereby providing a balanced and engaging overview of African American baseball history.

Author Bio

Bill Kirwin is a professor emeritus of social work at the University of Calgary–Edmonton. He is the editor of the journal NINE, published by the University of Nebraska Press.

Praise

"This collection of articles provides an excellent history of African American baseball from its origins to Jackie Robinson. . . . I would highly recommend this book just for learning more about our national pastime, even if it reminds us of a stained past."—Sanjeev A. Rao, Jr., Sports Literature Association

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