The competition level in Little League has never been tougher, but the kids on the Jackie Robinson West team faced their own set of challenges on and off the baseball diamond. The Jackie Robinson West team takes their fans and followers on a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs as each player shares a different part of the team’s history and experience, including a double-header with President Obama. Jackie Robinson West: The Story of the Youngest America’s Team leads readers on their harrowing path to the Little League World Series.

"An account of the desegregation of baseball's Pacific Coast League, the first American League of any sport to desegregate all of its teams"--

This is an anthology of 14 papers that were presented at the Ninth Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, held in June 1997 and co-sponsored by the State University of New York at Oneonta and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. To mark the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier in major league baseball the 1997 Symposium was dedicated to Robinson. These papers focus on Robinson, baseball, and race relations and are divided into three parts: "Before Robinson," "Robinson and Social Change" and "The Legacy of Robinson." The preface is by series editor Alvin L. Hall, and an introduction is provided by the editor of the volume, Peter M. Rutkoff.

A lively illustrated introduction to the Negro League equivalent of the All-Star Game discusses the history of the games, as well as the colorful cast of promoters, gamblers, and hucksters who made it happen. Original.

2014: The Year of Action By: Bepty Antoine 2014: The Year of Action is a broad-ranging compendium of the events, conflicts, and progress recently seen throughout the world. Written from the perspective of an immigrant with a particular heart for the poor, this unique tome focuses on the influential work of two world leaders, United States President Barack Obama and Pope Francis. Bepty Antoine utilizes historical and cultural knowledge to frame events within a larger context, presenting the actions both men have taken to further social justice issues, often connecting these concerns to environmental crises. Drawing on the tenants of their Christian faith, both the President and the Pope have sought to defend immigrants, refugees, and the global poor, and their efforts, often in the face of extreme opposition, are carefully detailed and celebrated. 2014: The Year of Action focuses on the impressive achievements of two modern heroes and places their struggles for progress within the wider context of current events and popular culture.

Every baseball player from little league to the big leagues knows it is illegal to steal signs, yet every major league team assigns someone to do just that. Baseball thrives on trickery and deception. But as our oldest major team sport, its larcenous legacy goes much deeper than the field of play. In LARCENY AND OLD LEATHER: THE MISCHIEVOUS LEGACY OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, Eldon Ham—sports lawyer, professor, and author—traces the game’s lesser-known, roguish past. His wry chapters, filled with anecdotes and statistics, expose both the hidden and the obvious cheating occurring throughout baseball’s history, from corked bats and spitballs to betting and media hyperbole. Here is a book for both seasoned baseball fans and neophytes who’d like to get a look at the game that evolved into an industry. Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Pete Rose, and many other lesser known players make their appearance in this fascinating history, as Ham seeks not only to chronicle the legacy of deception inherent within the game, but also to explore why it is, and how it is, that this deception is exactly what makes baseball the most endearing of American games.