Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1908

Chadwick, Henry [Editor]

Published by New York: American Sports Publishing Co., March 1908, 1908

About this Item

First edition. Publisher's pale green pictorial wrappers, with yellow border, batter in white and red uniform to front wrapper, lettered in blue and red. Very good, with heavy chipping to spine ends (Some loss to "Spalding's" on spine), light staining to front wrapper, and a small closed tear to top edge of rear wrapper. Overall, a bright copy, with clean pages. This guide looks back on the 1907 baseball season, in which the Chicago Cubs defeated Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers four games to none (with one tie) to claim the World Series. Throughout the guide are photos of Ty Cobb (pp. 54, 60, 74), Honus Wagner (p. 78), Christy Mathewson (p. 88), and other trailblazing legends of the game. The photo of Cobb on p. 60 is a particular standout, with Cobb running to first during the World Series. Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide was an annually issued guide first published in 1878 by sporting goods magnate A. G. Spalding. During the 19th century, Spalding and Reach's guides included the rules and regulations for playing the game and were the primary source of sports statistics and analysis of the prior year. From 1881 to 1908, Spalding's Guide was edited by Henry Chadwick, often referred to as the "Father of Baseball." Chadwick made significant contributions to the rules of the game, created the modern baseball box score, and introduced a number of vocabulary words that are still used to today, like "strike out," "cut off," and "fungo." Chadwick passed away in 1908 and was succeeded as editor by longtime sportswriter John B. Foster.

Seller Inventory # HCHAD022

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1908
• Publisher: New York: American Sports Publishing Co., March 1908
• Publication Date: 1908
• Binding: Original Wraps
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Baseball
  • Americana
  • Sports