The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball - Hardcover

"wide ranging compendium of baseball history and lore"--Reference Reviews "remarkable...an exhaustive compendium"--Booklist; "an entertaining, anecdotal, and informative reference recommended for all libraries"--Library Journal; "comprehensive...covers every imaginable subject...deserves a cover-to-cover read...by far the biggest and best baseball book ever published by McFarland"--Legends Sports Memorabilia; "no bland recitation of batting averages.... Even people who are not particularly keen on sports will enjoy browsing in this homage to American pop culture.... A steal at $75"--College & Research Libraries; "extremely rich...a wealth of information"--Choice; "marvelous"--Sporting News; "topics are so diverse as to challenge a reader to dare name a subject not mentioned"--Sports Collectors Digest; "it will give you countless hours of enjoyment"--Nineteenth Century Notes; "anyone who loves the game will delight in endless browsing in the encyclopedia's pages"--Rettig on Reference; "astonishing"--VOYA; "one of the most comprehensive, enjoyable, and useful narrative reference works on the game ever published. If one is planning on purchasing only one nonstatistical reference book about baseball this year, it should be this one"--ARBA; "extremely thorough"--www.purebaseball.com; "wide ranging compendium of baseball history and lore"--Reference Reviews.

More than any other sport, baseball has developed its own niche in America's culture and psyche. Researchers spend years on detailed statistical analyses of minute parts of the game, while others wax poetic about its players and plays. Many trace the beginnings of the civil rights movement to the Major Leagues' decision to integrate, and the words and phrases of the game (for example, pinch-hitter and out in left field) have become common in our everyday language. From AARON, HANK onward, all of what might be called the cultural aspects of baseball are covered (as opposed to the number-rich statistical information so widely available elsewhere). Biographical sketches of all Hall of Fame players, owners, executives and umpires, as well as many of the sportswriters and broadcasters who have won the Spink and Frick awards, join entries for teams, owners, commissioners and league presidents. Advertising, agents, drafts, illegal substances, minor leagues, oldest players, perfect games, retired uniform numbers, superstitions, tripleheaders, and youngest players are among the thousands of entries herein. Most entries open with a topical quote and conclude with a brief bibliography of sources for further research. The whole work is exhaustively indexed.