America's Game: A History of Major League Baseball through World War II

by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte

Overview

This comprehensive survey of major league baseball looks at the national pastime’s legendary figures, major innovations, and pivotal moments, from the beginning of the twentieth century through World War II.

In America's Game: A History of Major League Baseball through World War II, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte provides a comprehensive narrative of the major developments and key figures in Major League Baseball, during a time when the sport was still truly the national pastime. Soderholm-Difatte details pivotal moments—including the founding of the American League, the 1919 Black Sox scandal, and navigating the Great Depression and two World Wars—and concludes with a chapter examining the exclusion of black ballplayers from the major leagues. Central personalities covered in this book include baseball executives Judge Landis and Branch Rickey, managers John McGraw and Joe McCarthy, and iconic players such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

America’s Game isn’t simply about celebrating the exploits of great players and teams; it is just as much about the history of Major League Baseball as an institution and the evolution of the game itself. With significant changes taking place in baseball in recent times, this book will remind baseball fans young and old of the rich history of the game.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538110638
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/08/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	504
File size:	53 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Bryan Soderholm-Difatte is a former senior analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Counterterrorism Center. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and a regular contributor to The Baseball Research Journal. He is the author of The Golden Era of Major League Baseball: A Time of Transition and Integration (R&L, 2015).

Table of Contents

Author's Note vii

Statistical Sources ix

Introduction: Ruining a Good Thing xi

Part I Deadball Baseball

1 The American League Start-Up 3

2 AL Teams Playing for Keeps 17

3 National League Runaways and the Great '08 Race 29

4 The Almighty Cubs and the Punchless Wonders: How the White Sox Stunned Baseball in the 1906 World Series 45

5 First Call to the Bullpen: The Early Days of Relief Pitching 61

6 The Rock Star Manager and His Winning Imperative 69

7 The Distinguished Gentleman and His "A" Team: The Rise and Dismantling of Mack's First Dynasty 81

8 The Stallings Platoon and How the 1914 Miracle Braves Won It All 91

9 Managerial Paradigm Shift and the Turnaround in Phillies and Reds Fortunes 107

10 The Fall of the Red Sox Dynasty 121

11 Cleveland's Indian Summers 133

Part II Baseball in Transition

12 But for Black Sox Greed, the Yankees Dynasty Might Have Been Delayed 145

13 Here Come Da Judge: Landis, the Federal League Case, and the Commissioner Rules 161

14 Game Change: How the Babe Upended "Scientific" Baseball 183

15 Kick-Starting the Yankees' Forever Dynasty 193

16 The End of the Napoleonic Wars: The Giants' Last Decade under McGraw 205

17 Uncle Robbie's Brooklyn Burden 215

18 Capital Time: When the Senators Mattered 225

19 Mound Transitions: On Strikeouts and Relief Pitching 237

Part III Empire Building in the Lively Ball Era

20 St. Louis-Gateway City to the Bottom of Both Leagues 251

21 Dueling Dynasties: Mack's New Powerhouse Battles the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees 265

22 From Rickey's Farms to Redbirds' Table: The Cardinals' Model for Sustained Success 283

23 Star Turns as Managers 299

24 Trading Places in NL Races 307

25 Mission Impossible: Pitching in Baker Bowl 323

26 Masters of the Universe: The DiMaggio Yankees 331

27 Trying to Catch the Yankees 347

28 The McKechnie Scorecard: Improving the Braves, Winning with the Reds 359

29 Unlucky Not to Be a Yankee: Dykes, Stengel, McCarthy, and the Difference a Great Team Makes 375

Part IV Baseball, War, and Society

30 Patriot Games: Major League Baseball in Two World Wars 393

31 AL Wartime Turns of Fortune 407

32 Cardinals-Dodgers Pas de Deux 425

33 Baseball's Enduring Legacy of Racism 443

Bibliography 461

Index 467

About the Author 485

Editorial Reviews

America’s Game is an ambitious and impressive work of history, full of sharp analysis and sure-handed storytelling. Ruth, Cobb, Shoeless Joe, and the rest of the boys are here, but Bryan Soderholm-Difatte is at his best in explaining how the game they played evolved as an institution and became part of our nation’s DNA.

Jonathan Eig

Bryan Soderholm-Difatte brings a nuanced, stimulating, and enlightening perspective to baseball over the first half of the twentieth century. Casual baseball fans and hardcore historians alike will enjoy this highly engaging, well-written story.

Daniel R. Levitt

This is a thorough and well-documented account of a specific period of American baseball history.

Choice Reviews

This is a thorough and well-documented account of a specific period of American baseball history.

Choice

This is a thorough and well-documented account of a specific period of American baseball history.

CHOICE