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America’s National Game: 1901
The founding of the American League as a rivalThe American League (“All Americans”) toured in 1901. Note Nap Lajoie, Rube Waddell, Harry DavisIn What, then, is a major league? Which teams and players...
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America’s National Game: 1982
Bill James, the “Father of Modern Baseball”Bill James, with David Neft’s Baseball Encyclopedia (Photo by Lane Stewart)George Berkeley is said to have said, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is...
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America’s National Game: 1989
The banishment and posthumous reinstatement of Pete RoseFour by Andy Warhol, 1985; acrylic on canvas with silkscreen, Cincinnati Art MuseumRecently in this space I wrote about the Field of Dreams Game...
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America’s National Game: 1929
Can’t tell the players without a scorecard — not from a distanceJosé Méndez with Cuban Stars, 1909This is a story about numbers. Not the sabermetric sort — a subject for another day — but numerals on...
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America’s National Game: 1905
Moonlight Graham and other one-gamersMLB at the Field of Dreams, Dyersville, IowaBaseball returns to its roots, real and imagined, with the Field of Dreams game. Scholars may argue over whether the...
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The 1936 Yankees
Stereoviews that may be new to you; by Mark RuckerJoe DiMaggio in 1936; Novelview cardLet’s not start this demonstration by exploring why collectors are as they are. That is a topic for psychologists...
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America’s National Game: 1876
The birth of a big idea — MLB itself — backdatedGrand Central Hotel, Broadway and West 3rd, birthplace of Major League BaseballRecently I wrote about the All-Star Game in Philadelphia and Major League...
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America’s National Game: 1954
“The Catch,” plus how we measure defenseThe glove that made The Catch, courtesy Baseball Hall of Fame and Library of CongressOn September 29, 1954 the Cleveland Indians played the New York Giants at...
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America’s National Game: 1909
The ballpark, from the Elysian Fields to Shibe Park and beyondThe Polo Grounds fences were so distant that bullpens were on the field and in playRemember your first time in a big-league ballpark? How...
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Craig Waff on Early Scoring Systems
An exchange with me from October 16–17, 2008Baseball the way it was, from The American Boy’s Book of Sports and Games, 1864Craig B. Waff provided an invaluable service to Protoball research before his...
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An Unanticipated Fourth Entry
An essay on the Olympic Ball Club of Philadelphia from 2007REA catalog, Spring 2007I wrote this twenty years ago, for an REA auction catalog. I am hoping that the current proprietors will not mind my...
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Constitution of the Olympic Ball Club of Philadelphia
Constitution of the Olympic Ball ClubA text previously unavailable; plus, thoughts about Dock StreetConstitution of the Olympic Ball Club, December 7, 1837The Constitution of the Olympic Ball Club of...
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The Olympic Ball Club of Philadelphia
A history, from Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times, March 2, 1861After collaborating with William T. Porter on Spirit of the Times, George Wilkes created his own weeklyTHIS veteran organization dates as far...
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Base Ball: The Philadelphia Story
I wrote this story for the 2026 All-Star Game Media Guide. The site is Philadelphia, as MLB’s part in commemorating America’s 250th birthday.“Base Ball Players Practicing,” by Thomas Eakins; batting is...
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America’s National Game: 1933
MLB’s first all-star games, and its antecedentsHappy Birthday, US (or us!)Do you remember how we chose up sides for baseball games as kids? One captain would toss a bat to the other, whose grip would...
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America’s National Game: 1974
Henry Aaron breaks home-run record of Babe RuthHappy Birthday, US (or us!)On April 8, 1974, Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career record for home runs. What follows is a paean to Aaron but also a review...
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America’s National Game: 1939
Baseball’s Centennial SeasonHappy Birthday, US (or us!)In 1939 Baseball celebrated the 100th anniversary of its “invention” in Cooperstown, New York. On June 12 of that year the Hall of Fame and...
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America’s National Game: 1954
Marilyn, Joe, and the long story of baseball-star couplingsHappy Birthday, US (or us!)To this point in the series we have reviewed the cross currents between Baseball and American life. Yet no closer...
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America’s National Game: 1951
The Shot Heard ’Round the World nears a 75th birthdayHappy Birthday, US (or us!)What makes a game great? Is it exposure, or reminiscence, or timing, or something else, like your first game with your...
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America’s National Game: 1888, redux
Ninth in the series; who deserves the credit for “Casey”?Happy Birthday, US (or us!)The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day … you know the rest, don’t you?Last week we revisited...
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