A.G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball: The Promise of American Sport - Softcover

Levine, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195042204 ISBN 13: 9780195042207

Publisher: Oxford University Press USA, 1985

Synopsis

A. G. Spalding was a key figure in the professionalization and commercialization of American sports. Co-founder of baseball's National League, owner of the Chicago White Stockings (later the Cubs), and founder of a sporting goods business that made him a millionaire, Spalding not only willed baseball to be our national pastime but also contributed to making sport a significant part of American life.

This biography captures the zest, flamboyance, and creativity of Albert Goodwell Spalding, a man of insatiable ego, a showman and entrepreneur, whose life illuminated the hopes and fears of 19th-century Americans. It is a vivid evocation of the vanished world of 19th-century baseball, recreating a time when it was transformed from a game played on unkempt fields to modern style.

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Review

"As a study of Spalding's role in the emergence of professional sports, Levine's book is a valuable addition to a fast-growing area of scholarship."--American Historical Review
"A.G. Spalding joins an impressive body of historical writing...which focuses on baseball in pre-World War I America."--Journal of American Culture
"Levine's scholarly biography of Albert Goodwill Spalding fills a large gap in baseball historiography....Well-written and thoughtful....It will long endure as the standard work on Spalding."--Journal of American History
"As a study of Spalding's role in the emergence of professional sports, Levine's book is a valuable addition to a fast-growing area of scholarship."--American Historical Review
"A.G. Spalding joins an impressive body of historical writing...which focuses on baseball in pre-World War I America."--Journal of American Culture
"Levine's scholarly biography of Albert Goodwill Spalding fills a large gap in baseball historiography....Well-written and thoughtful....It will long endure as the standard work on Spalding."--Journal of American History
"As a study of Spalding's role in the emergence of professional sports, Levine's book is a valuable addition to a fast-growing area of scholarship."--American Historical Review
"A.G. Spalding joins an impressive body of historical writing...which focuses on baseball in pre-World War I America."--Journal of American Culture
"Levine's scholarly biography of Albert Goodwill Spalding fills a large gap in baseball historiography....Well-written and thoughtful....It will long endure as the standard work on Spalding."--Journal of American History
"As a study of Spalding's role in the emergence of professional sports, Levine's book is a valuable addition to a fast-growing area of scholarship."--American Historical Review

"A.G. Spalding joins an impressive body of historical writing...which focuses on baseball in pre-World War I America."--Journal of American Culture

"Levine's scholarly biography of Albert Goodwill Spalding fills a large gap in baseball historiography....Well-written and thoughtful....It will long endure as the standard work on Spalding."--Journal of American History

"As a study of Spalding's role in the emergence of professional sports, Levine's book is a valuable addition to a fast-growing area of scholarship."--American Historical Review

"A.G. Spalding joins an impressive body of historical writing...which focuses on baseball in pre-World War I America."--Journal of American Culture

"Levine's scholarly biography of Albert Goodwill Spalding fills a large gap in baseball historiography....Well-written and thoughtful....It will long endure as the standard work on Spalding."--Journal of American History

"Levine...has aptly given Spalding the central place he deserves in the history of American culture....A.G. Spalding would have liked this book."--Illinois Historical Journal

"A.G. Spalding would have liked this book."--Illinois Historical Journal

"Levine ably ties Spalding's life into the rise of baseball and, more importantly, late nineteenth-century culture."--William Simons, State University of New York, Oneonta

Synopsis

Traces the life of Spalding, a star baseball player, cofounder of the National League, manager of the Chicago White Stockings, and founder of the famous sporting goods firm.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
• Publication date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195042204
• ISBN 13: 9780195042207
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216