A history of Australian baseball : time and game / Joe Clark ; foreword by Ken Gulliver ; preface by Don Knapp.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, Joe, 1952-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baseball--Australia--History.

Baseball.

History.

Australia.

Physical Description:

xvi, 179 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2003]

Summary:

Through extensive interviews and archival research, Joe Clark has uncovered the engaging details of Australian baseball's unique, and often turbulent, 125-year history, and for the first time the dynamic story of Australian baseball is told. Initially accepted only grudgingly in the late nineteenth century as an off-season substitute for cricket, baseball in Australia steadily rose in prominence. Starting with only a few neighborhood games played between improvised teams, the sport grew to include state and national leagues and a spirited international competition. Both the shortcomings and the triumphs of Australian baseball are revealed in A History of Australian Baseball: Time and Game, from an ill-fated late nineteenth century baseball tour of America and the political firestorm surrounding the formation of the Australian Baseball League in the 1990s, to the amazing defeat of the powerhouse Cuban team in the Intercontinental Cup of 1999.

Contents:

1. The Origins of Australian Baseball 1

2. Early Enthusiasm in the 1890s 18

3. The Disaster Tour of 1897 24

4. A New Game for a New Century 41

5. Claxton Shield and Summer Baseball 60

6. Changing Times in the 1970s and 1980s 75

7. The Rocky Path to a National League 90

8. The Australian Baseball League, 1989-1999 116

9. Key Aspects of Australian Baseball 125

10. Australian Baseball at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century 138

Appendix Australian Baseball Time Line 149.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [159]-169) and index.

ISBN:

0803264402

OCLC:

52127597