Baseball without borders : the international pastime / edited by George Gmelch.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gmelch, George.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baseball.

Physical Description:

xxii, 326 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska, [2006]

Summary:

A televised baseball game from Puerto Rico, Japan, or even Cuba might look a lot like the North American game. Beneath the outward similarities, however-the uniforms and equipment and basic rules-there is usually a very different history and culture influencing the nuances of the sport. These differences are what interest the authors of Baseball without Borders, a book about America's national pastime going global and undergoing instructive, entertaining, and sometimes curious changes in the process. The contributors, leading authorities on baseball in the fourteen nations under considerations, look at how the game was imported-how it took hold and developed, how it is organized, played, and followed-and what these local and regional trends and features say about the sport's place in particular cultures.

Organized by region-Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific-and written by journalists, historians, anthropologists, and English professors, these original essays reflects diverse perspectives and range across a refreshingly wide array of subject: from high school baseball in Japan and Little League in Taiwan to fan behavior in Cuba and the politics of baseball in China and Korea.

Contents:

Japan: changing of the guard in high school baseball / Dan Gordon

Japan: the Hanshin Tigers and Japanese Professional Baseball / William W. Kelly

China: silk gowns and gold gloves / Joseph A. Reaves

Taiwan: baseball, colonialism, and nationalism / Andrew Morris

Korea: straw sandals and strong arms / Joseph A. Reaves

Dominican Republic: forging an international industry / Alan Klein

Cuba: behind the curtain / Tim Wendel

Cuba: community, fans, and ballplayers / Thomas Carter

Puerto Rico: a major league steppingstone / Thomas E. Van Hyning and Franklin Otto

Nicaragua: in search of diamonds / Dan Gordon

Brazil: baseball is popular, and the players are Japanese! / Carlos Azzoni, Tales Azzoni, and Wayne Patterson

Canada: internationalizing America's national pastime / Colin Howell

Italy: no hotdogs in the bleachers / Peter Carino

Holland: an American coaching honkbal / Harvey Shapiro

Great Britain: baseball's battle for respect in the land of cricket, rugby, and soccer / Josh Chetwynd

- Australia: baseball down under / Joseph Clark

Afterword: is baseball really global? / George Gmelch.

Notes:

"A Bison original"--P. [4] of cover.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0803271255

OCLC:

64594333

Publisher Number:

9780803271258