Early Innings

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Early Innings

A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908

Compiled and edited by Dean A. Sullivan
Introduction by Benjamin G. Rader

326 pages
Illus.

Paperback

February 1997

978-0-8032-9244-4

$21.95 Add to Cart

About the Book

This compilation of 120 primary writings documents baseball’s first century, from a loosely organized village social event to the arrival of the National League. Collecting from a wide range of sources—including newspaper accounts, letters, folk poetry, songs, and annual guides—Dean A. Sullivan of Fairfax, Virginia, progresses chronologically from the earliest known baseball reference (1825) to the creation of the Doubleday Myth (1908).

Author Bio

Benjamin G. Rader, author of Baseball: A History of America’s Game is a professor of history at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Praise

“Readers [get] a box seat at the game that became a national obsession.”—London Review of Books

“[Shows] just how compelling original documents can be when shaped into a narrative . . . that includes tales of attitudes, alliances, and deceits, as well as the development of performances, rules, and equipment.”—Canadian Journal of the History of Sport

“Ancient myths are shattered and new facts are uncovered.”—USA Today Baseball Weekly

“Fascinating collection.”—Washington Post

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