"Baseball Rebels tells stories of reformers and radicals who were influenced by, and in turn influenced, America's broader political and social protest movements, including battles against racism, corporate control, worker exploitation, sexism and homophobia, and American militarism"--

A captivating history of the baseball reformers and revolutionaries who challenged their sport and society—and in turn helped change America. Athletes have often used their platform to respond to and protest injustices, from Muhammad Ali and Colin Kaepernick to Billie Jean King and Megan Rapinoe. Compared to their counterparts, baseball players have often been more cautious about speaking out on controversial issues; but throughout the sport’s history, there have been many players who were willing to stand up and fight for what was right. In Major League Rebels: Baseball Battles over Workers' Rights and American Empire, Robert Elias and Peter Dreier reveal a little-known yet important history of rebellion among professional ballplayers. These reformers took inspiration from the country’s dissenters and progressive movements, speaking and acting against abuses within their profession and their country. Elias and Dreier profile the courageous players who demanded better working conditions, battled against corporate power, and challenged America’s unjust wars, imperialism, and foreign policies, resisting the brash patriotism that many link with the “national pastime.” American history can be seen as an ongoing battle over wealth and income inequality, corporate power versus workers’ rights, what it means to be a “patriotic” American, and the role of the United States outside its borders. For over 100 years, baseball activists have challenged the status quo, contributing to the kind of dissent that creates a more humane society. Major League Rebels tells their inspiring stories.

Baseball first became popular in Catawba County as a means of entertainment and competition between mills and small towns. The county's longest standing baseball program started at Lenoir College in 1903. By the mid-1920s, a mill-supported semi-pro league had been firmly established. In the 30 years that followed, three different periods of professional minor league play were anchored by legendary players like Norman "Pinkie" James, Eddie Yount, Don Stafford, Dick Stoll, and Pud Miller. Even before the successful return of Minor League baseball in 1993, Catawba County had already had its share of brushes with famous players like Hoyt Wilhelm, Carl Hubbell, and Bob Feller and infamous ones like Edwin "Alabama" Pitts and "Struttin" Bud Shaney.

An enthusiastic, irreverent, but exhaustive guidebook to all the stadiums of Minor League Baseball, following up on the success of the first Ultimate Baseball Road Trip book, which was dedicated to Major League stadiums.

"What makes a good rivalry? Sometimes it's two teams going head-to-head. Sometimes it's two players trying to one up each other. Sometimes it's fans egging each other on. Baseball is full of rivalries just like these. From college clashes to major league matchups, read on to discover some of the sports' biggest rivalries"--

The historians of the late 1960s have emphasised the work of a small group of white college activists and the Black Panthers, activists who courageously took to the streets to protest the war in Vietnam and continuing racial inequality. Poor and working-class whites have tended to be painted as spectators, reactionaries and even racists. Tracy and Amy Sonnie have been interviewing activists from the 1960s for nearly 10 years and here reject this narrative, showing how working-class whites, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, fought inequality in the 1960s.

In 1908, author John Fox Jr. published his best-selling novel The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, and with it, he brought Big Stone Gap into homes across the country. In modern times, Big Stone Gap is best known for a series of novels by hometown author Adriana Trigiani. "The Gap" has always been in the vocabulary of Southwest Virginians but has now taken root on the national scene for a second time in history. Big Stone Gap has since dubbed itself "the Little Town with the Big Story." This story began in the 1880s with the discovery of nearby coalfields that sent Northern investors into an expansion frenzy. The town was touted as the new "Pittsburgh of the South" with its railroads, hotels, and vibrant business and cultural scenes.