The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2009-2010

by William M. Simons (Editor)

Overview

The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2009-2010 is an anthology of scholarly essays that utilize the national game to examine topics whose import extends beyond the ballpark and constitute a significant academic contribution to baseball literature. The essays represent sixteen of the leading presentations from the two most recent proceedings of the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, held, respectively, on June 3-5, 2009, and June 2-4, 2010.

The anthology is divided into five parts: Baseball as Culture: Dance, Literature, National Character, and Myth; Constructing Baseball Heroes; Blacks in Baseball: From Segregation to Conflicted Integration; The Enterprise of Baseball: Economics and Entrepreneurs; and Genesis and Legacy of Baseball Scholarship, which features an essay written by the co-creator of baseball scholarship, Dorothy Seymour Mills.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786435708
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	03/11/2011
Series:	Cooperstown Symposium Series , #10
Edition description:	2009-2010 ed.
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William M. Simons is professor of history at the State University of New York–Oneonta.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction William M. Simons 1

Part I Baseball as Culture: Dance, Literature, National Character, and Myth

Plié Ball! Baseball in American Dance Jeff Katz 24

On the Brink: Babe Ruth in Dennis Lehane's The Given Day Patricia L. Bryan Thomas Wolf 42

The Golem, the Rabbi, and "That Long-Sought Hebrew Star": Jews in 1920s Baseball William M. Simons 57

"The crowd began to shout 'Atta boy,' with a Lancashire accent": The English Response to Baseball Exhibition Games in the Early 20th Century Beth Hise 78

The Little Lefty: Southpaw Perceptions and Reality Wayne Patterson 91

Part II Constructing Baseball Heroes

Ty Cobb and the Culture of Honor Steve Tripp 106

The Sinner and the Saint: National Magazine Coverage of Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson, 1900-1928 Amber Roessner 124

The Making of Charlie Hustle: Pete Rose and the American Dream, 1963-1985 Todd F. McDorman 140

Part III Blacks in Baseball: From Segregation to Conflicted Integration

The East-West Game: All-Stars and Negro League Finances Kenneth Winter Michael J. Haupert 156

Playing in the Gray Area: Black Baseball and Its Jewish "Middleman" Economy Roberta J. Newman Joel Nathan Rosen 172

A Calculus of Color: The Slow Integration of the American League, 1947-1959 Robert Kuhn McGregor 181

"The Plantation Owner" and "Brother Vida Blue": Charlie Finley, Vida Blue, and the Politics of Race in Oakland Ron Briley 198

Part IV The Enterprise of Baseball: Economics and Entrepreneurs

How World War I Nearly Brought Down Professional Baseball Charles DeMotte 214

Babe Ruth vs. Baby Ruth: The Quest for a Candy Bar Charles A. Poekel 225

Branch Rickey Versus Larry MacPhail: How a Rivalry Turned Feud Impacted Major League Baseball on the Eve of Racial Integration Lee Lowenfish William Marshall 229

Part V The Genesis and Legacy of Baseball Scholarship

Using Baseball Dorothy Seymour Mills 240

Index 247

Editorial Reviews

excellent...useful and engaging...essential”—Journal of Sport History.

From the Publisher