Baseball S Wildest Season

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.

In the 1970s, after a decade of stagnant fan interest that seemed to signal the demise of Major League Baseball, the game saw growth and change. In 1972, the players became the first in professional sports to go on strike. Four years later, contractual changes allowed those with six years in the majors to become free agents, leading to an unprecedented increase in salaries. Developments in the play of the game included new ballparks with faster fields and artificial turf, and the introduction of the designated hitter in 1973. Eminent personalities emerged from the dugout, including many African Americans and Latinos. Focusing on the stars who debuted from 1970 through 1979, this book covers the highs and lows of more than 1,300 players who gave fans the most exciting decade baseball has ever seen.

BRAWLS, EJECTIONS, SPITBALLS, BEAN-BALLS, FIGHTS WITH FANS AND UMPIRES....

Interest and attendance were dropping, and football was ascending. Stuck in a rut, baseball was dying. Then Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, a second-division club with wife-swapping pitchers, leaving the House That Ruth Built not with a slam but a simper. He vowed not to interfere—before soon changing his mind. Across town, Tom Seaver led the Mets’ stellar pitching line-up, and iconic outfielder Willie Mays was preparing to say goodbye. For months, the Mets, under Yogi Berra, couldn’t get it right. Meanwhile, the A’s were breaking a ban on facial hair while maverick owner Charlie Finley was fighting to keep them underpaid. But beneath the muttonchops and mayhem, lay another world. Elvis commanded a larger audience than the Apollo landings. A Dodge Dart cost $2,800, gas was a quarter per gallon. A fiscal crisis loomed; Vietnam had ended, the vice president resigned, and Watergate had taken over. It was one of the most exciting years in the game’s history, the first with the designated hitter and the last before arbitration and free agency. The two World Series opponents went head-to-head above the baby steps of a dynasty that soon dwarfed both league champions. It was a turbulent time for the country and the game, neither of which would ever be the same again.

Five well-known sportswriters followed five teams during the 1984-85 off-season to report on contract negotiations, the pursuit of free agents, trade talks at the Winter Meetings, and how individual players and teams prepare for a new season

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected virtually every aspect of life in America, and Major League Baseball in 2020 was no exception. From the day in March when MLB announced postponement of the season, to the commencement on July 23 of a 60-game "regular" season, through the completion of the World Series, this was a baseball season unlike any other. The Season of Living Dangerously records the views of a lifelong baseball fan as he watched this unique season unfold-games played in empty ballparks, new rules implemented to speed up play, Covid-19 cancellations, players and management openly expressing their views on racial inequity in America, the postseason expanded to allow over half the teams to participate, and the World Series held for the first time at a neutral site. This account of the 2020 season addresses the conflicting feelings many fans had about whether the truncated 60-game schedule could be considered a legitimate season and whether the games should be played at all while the pandemic persisted around the country. But it also reflects a fan's appreciation for the things that make baseball rewarding to watch as he experienced the strangest of baseball seasons.