In this revised and updated version of his highly regarded book, author Troy Soos covers the history of baseball in New England from 1791 through 1918, the year in which the Red Sox won their final World Series of the 20th century. Beginning with the recently discovered Pittsfield, Massachusetts, document, the history of early New England baseball and its folk predecessors is briefly discussed, followed by the advent of pay for play, when the Boston Red Stockings dominated baseball's first major league. Turning next to the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s, decades that saw pro baseball establish itself...

THE DEADLY CONFINES
While the nation wages war against Germany in 1918, utility infielder Mickey Rawlings has been traded to the North Side of Chicago. He's batting a career high (a respectable .274) and the Cubs are in first place. For the first time in a long while Mickey is feeling financially secure enough to buy furniture. That's when his best friend--rookie Willie Kaiser--is shot dead right on the diamond. While the official explanation is "accidental death from a stray bullet," Mickey thinks someone's taken the anti-war sentiment too far. Between collapsing bleacher seats...

"Equal parts baseball and mystery are the perfect proportion." --Robert Parker
The Big Dead Machine
It's 1921, and journeyman infielder Mickey Rawlings finds himself on yet another team, the Cincinnati Reds, who everyone remembers for "winning" the 1919 World Series against the infamous Chicago Black Sox. In an effort to refurbish their image, Oliver Perrimen, a die-hard Reds fan cooks up a memorabilia exhibit of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, who went undefeated in a historic coast-to-coast romp. But before the tour can reach first base, someone strikes Ollie out with a...

"Equal parts baseball and mystery are the perfect proportion." --Robert Parker
A Race To Stay Alive
1922. Another year, another team. Utility infielder Mickey Rawlings is now warming the pine for the St. Louis Browns, a team poised to go all the way. Rawlings should be overjoyed with the situation but the lack of playing time has him sneaking off to play incognito in the semi-pros. The competition is just as rough, though. In fact, some of the best players to ever throw a curveball or line up for a swing are his opponents. The only reason they aren't in the majors is because of...

The Roaring Twenties: America is dancing to jazz, gangsters are selling bootleg liquor, and the New York Yankees are building a baseball dynasty. In 1923 Yankee Stadium opens and Babe Ruth is about to lead the team to its first world's championship. But the season gets off to an ominous start when a murdered bootlegger is found buried in the new ballpark. Utility infielder Mickey Rawlings, in his first year with the Yankees, is called to investigate and soon gets caught in a crossfire of rival gangsters. The Tomb That Ruth Built is the seventh in Troy Soos's acclaimed Mickey Rawlings baseball...