Offers a history of African American exclusion from baseball, and assesses the changing racial attitudes that led up to Jackie Robinson's acceptance by the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Examine the big-league benefits of minor league baseball! The Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports examines the role played by minor league baseball in hundreds of cities and towns across the United States. Written from the unique perspective of a sociologist who also happens to be an avid baseball fan, the book looks at the contributions minor league teams make to the quality of life in their communities, creating focal points for spirit and cohesiveness while providing opportunities for interaction and entertainment. The book links theory and experience to present a “sociology of baseball” that explains the symbiotic relationship which brings people together for a common purpose—to root, root, root for the home team. From the author: Minor league baseball is played across the country in more than 100 very different communities. These communities seem to share a special bond with their teams. As with all sports teams, there is a symbiotic relationship between the team and the city or town that it represents. In the case of major league professional sports, the relationship is often fueled by economic outcomes. On the minor league level, the relationship appears to go beyond mere money and prestige. Minor league teams occupy a special place in our hearts. We are more forgiving when they lose, and extremely proud of them when they win. Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports is a detailed look at the connection between town and team, including: economic benefits (development strategies, community growth) intangible benefits (ballpark camaraderie, hometown pride) fan attachment and attendance (demographic variables, stadium accessibility, “home court advantage”) case studies of two Maryland minor-league franchises--the Class AA Bowie Baysox and the Class A Hagerstown Suns Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports also includes an introduction to the organizational structure of the minor leagues, a history of each current league, and charts and tables on attendance figures and franchise relocations. This book is essential reading for sociologists, sport sociologists/historians, academics and/or practitioners in the fields of community sociology and psychology, and of course, baseball fans.

The most detailed account of the 1949 shooting of the former Philadelphia Phillies baseball star Eddie Waitkus by an obsessed nineteen-year-old female fan in a Chicago hotel.

This book tells the story of the thousands of anonymous black professional baseball players whose talents were played out in the undiscovered world of the Negro leagues during the first half of the twentieth century. Chapter One introduces the swamplands of Florida where two teams of Negro athletes began to gain national attention for their performances in Palm Beach at the end of the 19th century. The remaining chapters follow the winter leaguers from New York to Venezuela and everywhere in between, revealing the largely unheard-of success stories.

Provides management, field staff, and contact information, league schedules, and ballpark directions for major and minor leagues.

Baseball is the only major team sport that doesn't feature a clock, and there's a familiar saying among fans that as long as outs remain, the game can, theoretically, go on forever. Every now and again, it nearly does, as author Phil Lowry demonstrates. The product of more than four decades of research, this book catalogs baseball games from around the world and throughout history that lasted 20 or more innings, stretched five or more hours, or ended after 1:00 am. Lowry also examines probability models to predict how often games of unusual length will occur.

"The Beaches" is an history and a tour of the 37 mile-long island in Florida which includes Mayport, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra, the Guana Preserve and Vilano Beach. With fifty four tour stops and hundreds of photos and maps, the 400 plus year history of this as-yet-unnamed island is told in a thorough and easy-to-read format.