With this volume, David Nemec completes his remarkable trilogy of 19th-century baseball biographies, covering every major league player, manager, umpire, owner and league official. It provides in-depth information on many figures unknown to most historians. Each detailed entry includes vital statistics, peer-driven analysis of baseball-related skills, and an overview of the individual's role in the game. Also chronicled are players' first and last major league games, most important achievements, movements from team to team, and much more. By bringing attention to these overlooked baseball personalities, this reference work immeasurably enriches our knowledge of 19th century major league baseball.

With this volume, David Nemec completes his remarkable trilogy of 19th-century baseball biographies, covering every major league player, manager, umpire, owner and league official. It provides in-depth information on many figures unknown to most historians. Each detailed entry includes vital statistics, peer-driven analysis of baseball-related skills, and an overview of the individuals role in the game. Also chronicled are players first and last major league games, most important achievements, movements from team to team, and much more. By bringing attention to these overlooked baseball personalities, this reference work immeasurably enriches our knowledge of 19th century major league baseball.

Indiana boasts a rich baseball tradition, with 10 native sons enshrined in Cooperstown. This biographical dictionary provides a close look at the lives of all 364 Hoosier big leaguers, who include New York City's first baseball superstar; the first rookie pitcher to win three games in a World Series; the man who caught most of Cy Young's record 511 career wins; one of the game's first star relievers; the player who held the record for consecutive games played before Lou Gehrig; an obscure infielder mentioned in Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip; baseball's only one-legged pitcher; Indiana's first Mr. Basketball, who became one of baseball's greatest pinch-hitters; the first African American to play for the Cincinnati Reds; the only pitcher to throw a perfect game in the World Series; the skipper of the 1969 "Miracle Mets"; the pitcher for whom a ground-breaking surgical procedure is named; and the only two men to have played in both the World Series and the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

This chronologically organized book is the first to provide comprehensive coverage of forfeits and successful protests of major league baseball games, educating the reader on the rules and prevailing styles of play at the time that each of the games was played. In addition to the date, location, and source information, this work provides capsule biographies of many of the principal characters involved (including, for instance, the obscure one-game umpire who perpetrated the first forfeited game in major league history in 1871).

A project of SABR's Nineteenth Century Committee, INVENTING BASEBALL brings to life the greatest games to be played in the game's early years. From the "prisoner of war" game that took place among captive Union soldiers during the Civil War, to the first intercollegiate game (Amherst versus Williams), to the first professional no-hitter, the games in this volume span 1833–1900 and detail the athletic exploits of such players as Cap Anson, Moses "Fleetwood" Walker, Charlie Comiskey, Mike "King" Kelly, and John Montgomery Ward.

At the end of the 1883 baseball season, things looked rosy--attendance had skyrocketed and the National League and American Association were at peace. A year later, however, the sport was in total disarray. A third major league, the Union Association, had come on the scene and waged a bitter war that rocked the baseball world. By the dawn of the 1885 season, the UA had dissolved in a sea of red ink, the AA had dropped four teams, and the minor leagues were desperately hoping to make it through the season. Amid the chaos of 1884 were some historic moments. Iron-man pitcher Hoss Radbourn won 59 games and led the Providence Grays to victory over the New York Metropolitans in the first World Series. Fleet Walker broke baseball's first color line. There were a record eight no-hitters and a cast of fascinating figures--some famous, some lost to history--like Radbourn, Hustling Horace Phillips, Dan O'Leary, and Edward (The Only) Nolan. This book tells the story of the momentous yet overshadowed 1884 season.

The authoritative compendium of facts, statistics, photographs, and analysis that defines baseball in its formative first decades This comprehensive reference work covers the early years of major league baseball from the first game—May 4, 1871, a 2-0 victory for the Fort Wayne Kekiongas over the visiting Cleveland Forest City team—through the 1900 season. Baseball historian David Nemec presents complete team rosters and detailed player, manager, and umpire information, with a wealth of statistics to warm a fan’s heart. Sidebars cover a variety of topics, from oddities—the team that had the best record but finished second—to analyses of why Cleveland didn’t win any pennants in the 1890s. Additional benefits include dozens of rare illustrations and narrative accounts of each year’s pennant race. Nemec also carefully charts the rule changes from year to year as the game developed by fits and starts to formulate the modern rules. The result is an essential work of reference and at the same time a treasury of baseball history. This new edition adds much material unearthed since the first edition, fills gaps, and corrects errors, while presenting a number of new stories and fascinating details. David Nemec began the lifetime labor that helped produced this work in 1954 and admits it may never end, as there always will be some obscure player whose birth date has not yet been found. Until perfection is achieved, this work offers state-of-the-art accuracy and detail beyond that supplied by even modern baseball encyclopedias. As Casey Stengel, who was born during this era, was wont to say, “you could look it up.” Now you can.