Though many of his contemporaries considered him second only to Babe Ruth in the 1920s and 1930s, Mickey Cochrane is often overlooked by fans and historians. The hard-hitting catcher played on three World Series winners. Fiercely competitive on the field, Cochrane was a true gentleman off it. Though he was a highly regarded member of the As championship teams, it is his career in Depression-era Detroit that he is best remembered. The pressure of the adulation there and his duties as player, manager and Tigers vice president led to a breakdown in 1935. On his way to recovery, he was hit in the...

Playing baseball on Sunday was a divisive issue in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. On one side of the argument were the owners, who wanted to take in more money, and working people, who labored six days a week and wanted to take in a baseball game on the seventh. On the other side were people who thought that the commandment to keep Sunday sacred ought to be obeyed. The story of how Sunday baseball went from being an illegal activity in most areas of the country in 1876 to a legal form of entertainment in all major league cities by 1934 is told in this work. It describes...

This book delves deep into the history of the New England League, whose years of operation spanned six decades during the pivotal early years of minor league baseball. Author Charlie Bevis, an expert on New Englands baseball past, explores the complex ties to the regional economy, especially to the textile industry, and discusses the pioneering experiments with playoffs, night baseball, and integration.

The history of Major League doubleheaders is presented in this volume, beginning with their inception as a way to make up missed games, to their current decline as a result of changes in society. The role of the doubleheader as a celebration of holidays and as a Sunday event is explained, as well as its crucial role in enabling Major League Baseball to survive as an economic entity during the Great Depression and World War II.

This first book-length biography of Jimmy Collins examines the life of an intensely private, business-oriented ballplayer who was the first third baseman to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Collins' life is covered in depth from his early years growing up in Buffalo, through his 14-year major league baseball career 1895-1908 primarily in Boston, to his post-baseball life as a real estate investor. This book sheds new light on Collins' motivations to leverage his baseball success--which included leading Boston to victory in the first modern-day World Series in 1903--into lucrative...

One of the greatest pitchers of the 19th century, Tim Keefe (1857-1933) was an ardent believer in the artisan work ethic that was becoming outmoded in burgeoning industrial America. A master craftsman, he compiled 342 career victories during his 14-season Major League career while adapting to numerous changes in pitching rules during the 1880s. Known as a strategic pitcher, he outsmarted batters, particularly with his change-of-pace pitch. He led the New York Giants to the National League pennant in 1888 and 1889, establishing a Major League record with 19 consecutive pitching victories in...