The golden game : the story of California baseball / Kevin Nelson ; foreword by Hank Greenwald.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nelson, Kevin, 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baseball--California--History.

Baseball.

History.

California.

Physical Description:

xx, 379 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

San Francisco, Calif. : California Historical Society Press ; Berkeley, Calif. : Heyday Books, [2004]

Summary:

Baseball and the Gold Rush, Ernest Thayer and "Casey at the Bat," baseball crook Hal Chase, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson and integration, crusty Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Hollywood baseball movies, Satchel Paige vs. Dizzy Dean, Kenichi Zenimura and the Japanese American experience, Sparky Anderson, Gene Autry, Willie Mays, Tommy Lasorda, and the rise of the baby boom generation of players -- all of these people and stories are part of the incredible saga of California baseball and how it has shaped the national pastime. Kevin Nelson, author of over a dozen books on sports, presents in words and pictures 150 years of baseball history, from sandlot ball in the 1850s to the coming of the Dodgers, Giants, Angels, Athletics, and Padres. Here is a stirring, colorfully written narrative about the state that has been the birthplace and proving ground for more major leaguers than any other. With more than 150 photographs of vintage and modern ballplayers and scenes, The Golden Game is not only a richly illustrated and lively read, but also a well-researched reference work that will delight baseball fans and anyone who loves a good story.

Contents:

The seed is planted

Stagecoach baseball

Enter the professionals

How Casey advanced to the bat

Train ride south

From Robinson to Lange to Chance

A brand new ballgame

A ballpark blooms in San Francisco

The Los Angeles mix, winter 1908

Schoolboys

Playgrounds

A left-hander for the Oaks

There was a crooked man

The pride of their community

Babe Ruth in California

An experiment in sound and light

Barnstormers

In the shadows of war

Joe, Ted, Jackie

War games

Breakthrough

Golden boys

In a corner of the United States

Casey, Billy, and the Yanks

Brown Derby baseball

They changed the game

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants, April 1958

The last days of Ty Cobb

The cowboy rides in

The next generation

1969.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 342-371) and index.

ISBN:

1890771805

OCLC:

54006578