Baseball: An Illustrated History »

Geoffrey C. Ward is a historian and biographer and the author of fourteen books. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1989 and the Francis Parkman Prize in 1990. He is also the winner of five Emmys and two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work for public television. He lives in New York City.

Ken Burns’s films include The National Parks, Jazz, Baseball, and The Civil War, which was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television. His work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, two Academy Award nominations, and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire.

Kevin Baker is the author of the City of Fire trilogy and was the chief historical researcher for Harry Evans’s The American Century. He lives in New York City.

The companion volume to Ken Burns’s magnificent PBS television series—updated and expanded to coincide with the broadcast of a new, two-part Tenth Inning, directed with Lynn Novick.

The authors of the acclaimed and best-selling The Civil War, Jazz, and The War turn to another uniquely American phenomenon: baseball. In words and pictures they provide a stunningly rich evocation of our beloved national pastime, a game woven inextricably into the fabric of our lives and our national memory.

Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns’s moving and fascinating history of the game goes beyond stolen bases, double plays, and home runs to demonstrate how baseball has been influenced by, and has in turn influenced, American life: politics, race, labor, big business, advertising, social custom, literature, art, and morality. The book covers every milestone of the game: from the rules drawn up in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright to the American League’s introduction of the designated hitter in 1973; from the founding of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players in 1885 to the eight-month players’ strike of 1994; from the 1924 Negro World Series (Kansas City Monarchs vs. Philadelphia Hilldales) to Jack Roosevelt Robinson’s major-league debut in 1947; from the first curve ball in 1867 (pitched by Candy Cummings of the Brooklyn Excelsiors) to Nolan Ryan’s seventh and last no-hitter in 1991. This new edition brings the authors’ monumental work into the twenty-first century: steroids, home-run records, the rise of Latino players, the long-awaited Red Sox World Series victory, and so much more.

Nine essays by notable baseball enthusiasts, exploring their individual preoccupations with the game, complement this sweeping narrative. And a wealth of pictures document baseball’s evolution since the mid-nineteenth century and bring to life its most memorable figures. Monumental, affecting, informative, entertaining, and sumptuously illustrated—Baseball is a book that speaks to all Americans.

With a narrative by Geoffrey C. Ward, a preface to the new edition by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, a new chapter by Kevin Baker, and an introduction by Roger Angell

Essays by Thomas Boswell • Robert W. Creamer • Gerald Early • Doris Kearns Goodwin • Bill James • David Lamb • Daniel Okrent • John Thorn • George F. Will

And featuring an interview with Buck O’Neil

Library Journal

Baseball is indeed a mirror of American life, and Ward and Burns show how well America's story is told through baseball. Their book is the companion to a nine-part PBS television documentary scheduled to begin on September 18. In format and approach it resembles the authors' previous best seller, The Civil War (LJ 9/1/90). Each chapter, or "inning," proceeds chronologically with a dominant theme and dramatis personae. The profusion of striking illustrations add an extra dimension to each chapter. Another nice feature is the interlaced essays by such fine writers as Roger Angell, Robert Creamer, and Thomas Boswell on the hold that baseball has on ordinary people. The narrative gains force and momentum in sections examining the injustice of segregation and the forgotten heroes of the Negro leagues. Because the book is based on a documentary filmscript, the narrative sometimes seems a bit episodic, jumping from scene to scene and story to story. Overall, however, this rich and suggestive history is one of the finest books produced on baseball. Highly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/94.]-Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., Ill.

Preface to the 2010 Edition: Negative Capability

Preface: Where Memory Gathers

Introduction: Hard Lines Roger Angell Angell, Roger

1st Inning

Our Game: Beginnings to 1900 3

Why Baseball John Thorn Thorn, John 58

2nd Inning

Something Like a War: 1900-1910 65

Stats Bill James James, Bill 101

3rd Inning

The Faith of Fifty Million People: 1910-1920 107

The Minors David Lamb Lamb, David 146

4th Inning

That Big Son of a Bitch: 1920-1930 153

The Church of Baseball Thomas Boswell Boswell, Thomas 189

5th Inning

Shadow Ball: 1930-1940 197

Why Would You Feel Sorry for Me? Buck O'Neill O'Neill, Buck 226

Thirties Baseball Robert W. Creamer Creamer, Robert W. 260

6th Inning

The National Pastime: 1940-1950 267

Fan Doris Kearns Goodwin Goodwin, Doris Kearns 305

7th Inning

The Capital of Baseball: 1950-1960 311

Fifties Baseball George F. Will Will, George F. 356

8th Inning

A Whole New Game: 1960-1970 363

Baseball and African American Life Gerald Early Early, Gerald 412

9th Inning

Home: The Modern Era 421

Always Right on Time Daniel Okrent Okrent, Daniel 467

10th Inning

The Age of Miracles and Wonders: Twenty-first Century Baseball Kevin Baker Baker, Kevin 473

Acknowledgments, Selected Bibliography, Index, Illustration Credits, Film Credits 546