Melvin Thomas Ott was smaller than most home run sluggers, at 5'9," 170 pounds, but he could sure hit 'em as far as the big boys. Over a 22-year playing career with the New York Giants, Ott slapped 511 homers, then a National League record. At the tender age of 20, he erupted on the scene with career highs of 42 home runs and 152 RBIs. He went on to win or share six home run titles, appear in 11 All-Star Games and play in three World Series. It was a foregone conclusion when Ott was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951. This is the first-ever biography of baseball's renowned...

Before the commercialization of baseball it was quite normal for a player to be the manager of the team. Fred Stein explores the history of the phenomenon and presents 42 biographies of players who have filled this demanding dual role.

From the genesis of baseball in the 1840s, when so-called ?kranks? cheered the teams of their choice, fans have been an ever-present component of the sport. As the number of fans has increased over the years, their influence has increased proportionally. Following the evolution of the game and its fans over more than a century, this book examines the role fans have played in the formation of modern baseball and the part the sport has played in the lives of its devotees. How have fans influenced, reacted to, or been affected by baseball's changes through history? How do fans determine player...