This Too Was America: Philadelphia's Era of Cricket

by Tom Melville

Overview

Cricket in America achieved its greatest acclaim, most extensive organization and highest level of competition in Philadelphia in the mid-19th century. The city took upon itself the burden of representing the entire U.S. during the sport's emerging international popularity.

It was a story of amazing successes, abysmal failures and engaging personalities--like John B. King, revered to this day as one of the all-time greatest players--and eventual decline and demise. This meticulously researched history examines the origin and rise of a sport's legacy that, even in its demise, would endure as a lost vision of America's sporting destiny.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476691282
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	03/03/2023
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Freelance writer and researcher Tom Melville lives in Wisconsin.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Prologue
A Note on Technical Cricket Terms
One. New York/Philadelphia Cricket and the Ball-Playing Spring of the 1840s
Two. The Rise of Philadelphia Cricket and the Uncertainty of a Sporting Identity
Three. ­Post–Civil War Cricket and Baseball and the Divergence of a Sporting Culture
Four. Guardian of a Sporting Alternative
Five. Young America, the Hargreaves Family, and the Assertion of Nativism
Six. Intern to Internationalism
Seven. Clubs, Players, and the Flowering of Late 19th-Century Philadelphia Cricket
Eight. Ambivalence of Destiny
Nine. “A Civilization of Its Own”: The World of Late 19th-Century Philadelphia Cricket
Ten. Visions of Viability: The England Tour of 1903
Eleven. Twilight of Internationalism and the Drift from Nativism
Twelve. Decline, Denial, and Dreams: The Passing of Philadelphia Cricket
Epilogue
Appendix: Casual Olympian
Chapter Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Index

Editorial Reviews

Melville is meticulous in his use of primary sources, especially the very rare periodical American Cricketer. ...libraries collecting 19th-century sports and baseball history will find this book a valuable addition because it documents a distinctive path taken by a less well-known bat-and-ball game in a major American city. ...recommended”—Choice

From the Publisher