Touching All the Bases: Baseball in 101 Fascinating Stories

by Thomas D. Phillips

Overview

Around 1863, William “Candy” Cummings discovered he could make clamshells curve when thrown—a skill he transferred to baseball as a pitcher for the New York Excelsiors. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first team in baseball to place all of their players on salary. And in 1945, the St. Louis Browns recruited a one-armed outfielder to the majors. These stories and much more are brought to life in Touching All the Bases: Baseball in 101 Fascinating Stories, an all-encompassing look at the game of baseball.

Past to present, this book covers the sport in its entirety, from its defining moments on the field to the outside-the-ballpark influences that have shaped the game over the years. Unique chapters—such as the impact of World War II, legal issues, labor disputes, the legacy of Jackie Robinson, and the doping dilemma—complement accounts of milestone events, individual and team achievements, and the most famous games, plays, and players of the sport. Appendixes provide lists of World Series, batting and homerun champions, perfect games, player nicknames, award winners, and more.

A comprehensive collection of baseball’s history, evolution, and memorable moments, Touching All the Bases will entertain, inform, and educate all those interested in baseball, whether a casual fan or a dedicated enthusiast.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810885523
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/23/2012
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Thomas D. Phillips lectures on baseball history to a wide variety of audiences. His writings about baseball have appeared in Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Baseball Review, Spitball: The Baseball Literary Journal, and other publications.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter One: In the Beginning
1. The Diamond, the Team, and the Rules
Chapter Two: Firsts
2. First All-Salaried Professional Team
3. The Pioneers
4. First World Series
5. First Night Game
6. First Farm System
7. First Radio and Television Broadcasts
8. First Designated Hitter … and the DH’s Ancestor
Chapter Three: The Most Famous Plays
9. Bill Wambsganss: Unassisted Triple Play
10. Willie Mays: “The Catch”
11. Bobby Thomson: “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”
12. Enos Slaughter: “The Mad Dash”
13. Gabby Hartnett: “The Homer in the Gloamin’”
14. Jeter’s Miracle
15. Bill Mazeroski: Seventh Game Walk Off Home run
16. Kirk Gibson: The Unbelievable Home run
17. Babe Ruth: “The Called Shot”
18. Bucky Dent: The Unprintable Middle Name
19. Al Gionfriddo: The Catch That Frustrated DiMaggio
Chapter Four: The Most Famous Misplays
20. Mickey Owen: The Dropped Third Strike
21. Fred Snodgrass: “The $30,000 Muff”
22. Fred Merkle’s Bonehead Play
23. Bill Buckner’s Error
Chapter Five: Streaks and Sustained Excellence
24. DiMaggio’s Hitting Streak
25. Ted Williams: Consecutive Games/Times on Base
26. Johnny Vander Meer: Two Consecutive No-Hitters
27. Orel Hershiser: 59 Consecutive Scoreless Innings Pitched
28. Eric Gagne: 84 Consecutive Saves
29. Charles Radbourn: 60 Victories in a Season (Or Maybe Only 59)
30. Carl Hubbell: 24 Consecutive Pitching Victories
31. Home runs in Eight Consecutive Games
32. New York Yankees: Five Consecutive World Championships
33. Longest Winning Streak
34. At the Top of Their Games … For Years and Years
Chapter Six: Streaks and Sustained (Lack of) Excellence
35. Zero for 2011
36. Longest Losing Streak
37. Anthony Young: 27 Consecutive Losses
38. The Worst Team
Chapter Seven: Highs and Lows
39. First Pitch Grand Slam
40. First Game No-Hitter
41. Home runs on First Two At-Bats
42. Two Grand Slams in One Inning
43. Three Hits in One Inning
44. Twelve RBIs in a Game
45. Twelve Hits in a Row
46. Seven for Seven
47. Three Swings Seven Outs, and Other Bad Times
Chapter Eight: Special Games
48. The Long and the Short
49. The Most Innings
50. Seventeen Runs in One Inning
51. The Most Runs Scored
52. Twelve Perfect Innings
53. Double No-Hitter
54. The Most Unusual No-Hitter – Or Was It a 26-Out Perfect Game?
55. Larsen’s Perfect Game
56. The Pine Tar Game
57. The Bloody Sock
Chapter Nine: Moments to Remember
58. The Garbled Phone Calls Game: “Can You Hear Me Now?”
59. The Fan in Aisle 4, Row 8, Seat 113
60. Jeter Hits a Home run – Or Maybe Not
61. Stirnweiss’s Batting Title
62. Ted Williams: .406 on the Last Day
63. September 28, 2011: Hours and Hours of Excitement
64. Moments that Transcend the Game
Chapter Ten: Hall of Fame
65. Babe Ruth
66. Walter Johnson
67. Ty Cobb
68. Honus Wagner
69. Christy Mathewson
Chapter Eleven: All-Star Game
70. The Windblown Balk
71. Carl Hubbell: 5Ks in a Row
72. The Eephus Pitch
73. The Collision
Chapter Twelve: The Most Famous Teams
74. “Murderer’s Row”
75. The “Big Red Machine”
76. The “Miracle Braves”
77 The “Hitless Wonders”
Chapter Thirteen: Franchises and Leagues
78. Major League Franchises
79. Other Major Leagues
80. The Negro Leagues
Chapter Fourteen: Elysian Fields
81. The Ball Parks
Chapter Fifteen: The Equipment
82. The Baseball
83. The Baseball Bat
84. Gloves and Mitts
85. Uniforms and Associated Gear
Chapter Sixteen: Computing the Stats
86 The Major Stats: What the Numbers Mean
87. The Stories the Numbers Tell
Chapter Seventeen: The Awards
88. Honors Bestowed
Chapter Eighteen: The Black Sox Scandal
89. “Say It Ain’t So, Joe”
Chapter Nineteen: The Steroids Era
90. The Doping Dilemma
Chapter Twenty: The Impact of World War II
91. Ted Williams: Left Fielder, Boston Red Sox
92. Bob Feller: Pitcher, Cleveland Indians
93. Warren Spahn: Pitcher, Boston/Milwaukee Braves
94. Pete Gray: The One-Armed Ballplayer
95. The Women’s League
Chapter Twenty-One: The Legacy of Jackie Robinson
96. Jackie
Chapter Twenty-Two: Pitching
97. Pitching: From Past to Present – Tracing the Changes
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Reserve Clause
98. Management vs. Labor
Chapter Twenty-Four: Running the Business
99. Front Office Operations: Rosters, Waivers, Options, Free Agency
Chapter Twenty-Five: Baseball in Song, Verse, and Show Business
100. Baseball in the Arts and on Screen
Chapter Twenty-Six: Nicknames
101. Dr. Strangeglove and other Labels
Appendixes
Appendix 1: Spring Training Sites
Appendix 2: World Series Results
Appendix 3: Unassisted Triple Plays
Appendix 4: Perfect Games
Appendix 5: Hall of Fame Membership
Appendix 6: Major League Ball Parks
Appendix 7: Batting Champions
Appendix 8: Home run Champions
Appendix 9: Triple Crown Winners
Appendix 10: MVP Award Winners
Appendix 11: Cy Young Award Winners
Appendix 12: Rookies of the Year
Appendix 13: Gold Glove Record Holders
Appendix 14: Silver Slugger Record Holders
Appendix 15: Commissioners of Baseball
Appendix 16: Labor Disputes
Appendix 17: Casey at the Bat and a Sampling of Sequels
Appendix 18: Nicknames
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Baseball writer Phillips offers a compendium that spans baseball's history from its beginnings (most likely in 1845) all the way to game five of the 2011 World Series. Phillips covers notable firsts (night game, radio/TV broadcasts, salaried team), famous plays (including "The Catch" by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series and Bill Buckner's ball-between-the-legs error in the 1986 World Series), and remarkable streaks (Eric Gagne's 84 consecutive saves between 2002 and 2004 and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders' loss of 134 out of 154 games). Chapters devoted to Hall of Famers, ballparks, equipment and statistics–as well as a whopping 18 appendixes dig deeper into the game and may provide new information even for longtime fans, as might lengthier essays on the steroids era, the impact of WWII, the legacy of Jackie Robinson, the evolution of pitching, and the reserve clause. The book works both as a cover-to-cover read and a reference, and Phillips's straightforward style gives it broad appeal. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A fine, entertaining introduction to the sport, especially accessible for public library patrons such as young readers, new fans, and those unfamiliar with baseball lore.

American Reference Books Annual

A fine, entertaining introduction to the sport, especially accessible for public library patrons such as young readers, new fans, and those unfamiliar with baseball lore.

American Reference Books Annual (ARBA)