The tour to end all tours : the story of major league baseball's 1913-1914 world tour / James E. Elfers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elfers, James E., 1963-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tour to End All Tours (1913-1914).

Tour to End All Tours.

Baseball--History--20th century.

Baseball.

History.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 278 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2003]

Summary:

During the winter of 1913 and the spring of 1914 the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox took a trip around the world. Organized by crusty John McGraw of the Giants and the White Sox's Charles Coniskey, it was a trip of epic proportions -- a tour to end all tours recreated here in all its monumental sweep and comical detail. This book follows the two teams, whose members include Christy Mathewson, Jim Thorpe, and half a dozen other future Hall-of-Famers, as they barnstorm across the United States and sail the seas to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, finishing with a game before twenty thousand fans and King George V. Along the way, baseball's envoys meet such dignitaries as Pope Pius X, tea magnate Thomas Lipton, and the last khedive of Egypt. They play the tables of Monaco, survive a near-shipwreck, and cram a lifetime's worth of adventures into six months. Their story, told here for the first time, gives readers a glimpse into baseball history and the innocence and spirit of a long-gone era.

Contents:

1. A Tour Is Born 1

2. Filling Out the Lineup 10

3. Base Paths a Continent Wide 34

4. Pacific Dreams 73

5. Across a Restless Sea 94

6. The Land of the Rising Sun 108

7. China and Points East 122

8. Uncle Sam's Tropical Playground 135

9. Baseball Down Under 145

10. Sir Thomas Lipton and the Shadow of the Pyramids 171

11. Across a Storm-Tossed Europe 197

12. Baseball Fit for a King 227.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [253]-267) and index.

ISBN:

0803267487

OCLC:

49903184