Ballplayers on Stage: Baseball, Melodrama, and Theatrical Celebrity in the Deadball Era

Since before the turn of the twentieth century, baseball greats have captivated audiences both on the diamond and the stage. Gracing the world of melodrama with their theatrical presence during the offseason, their forays into professional theater opened a portal between two distinct worlds of performance and entertainment that would shape the future of both.

In Ballplayers on Stage, Travis Stern explores the relationship between professional baseball and professional theater in the late ni...