"Readers get] a box seat at the game that became a national obsession."--London Review of Books. " Shows] just how compelling original documents can be when shaped into a narrative . . . that includes tales of attitudes, alliances, and deceits, as well as the development of performances, rules, and equipment."--Canadian Journal of the History of Sport. This compilation of 120 primary writings documents baseball's first century, from a loosely organized village social event to the arrival of the National League. Collecting from a wide range of sources-including newspaper accounts, letters,...