Baseball by George Vecsey

Baseball by George Vecsey

Football is force and fanatics, basketball is beauty and bounce. Baseball is everything: action, grace, the seasons of our lives. George Vecsey's book proves it, without wasting a word.--Lee Eisenberg, author of The Number

In Baseball, one of the great bards of America's Grand Old Game gives a rousing account of the sport, from its pre-Republic roots to the present day. George Vecsey casts a fresh eye on the game, illuminates its foibles and triumphs, and performs a marvelous feat: making a classic story seem refreshingly new.

Baseball is a narrative of America's can-do spirit, in which stalwart immigrants such as Henry Chadwick could transplant cricket and rounders into the fertile American culture and in which die-hard unionist baseballers such as Charles Comiskey and Connie Mack could eventually become the tightfisted avatars of the game's big-money establishment. It's a celebration of such underdogs as a rag-armed catcher turned owner named Branch Rickey and a sure-handed fielder named Curt Flood, both of whom flourished as true great men of history. But most of all, Baseball is a testament to the unbreakable bond between our nation's pastime and the fans, who've remained loyal through the fifty-year-long interdict on black athletes, the Black Sox scandal, franchise relocation, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs by some major stars.

Reverent, playful, and filled with Vecsey's charm, Baseball begs to be read in the span of a rain-delayed doubleheader, and so enjoyable that, like a favorite team's championship run, one hopes it never ends.

Vecsey possesses a journalist's eye for detail and a historian's feel for the sweep of action. His research is scrupulous and his writing crisp. This book is an instant classic--a highly readable guide to America's great enduring pastime.--The Louisville Courier Journal

George Vecsey is the author of a number of books, including the best-selling Stan Musial: An American Life. He began working for The New York Times in 1968, and from 1982 to 2011, he wrote the Sports of the Times column. He is presently a contributing columnist. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2013 for his efforts as one of the first columnists at a major American soccer publication. The sport will be covered by a newspaper. He resides in the town of Port Washington, New York.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780812978704
ISBN 10	0812978706
Title	Baseball
Author	George Vecsey
Series	Modern Library Chronicles
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2008-03-11
Number of pages	272
Prizes	Winner of New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age 2007
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.