When Baseball Was Still Topps: Portraits of the Game in 1959, Card by Card

Card by card—all 572 of the '59 Topps set—this book contemplates the lives and times of mid-20th century baseball. That season was in the heart of a period of turmoil: milestones in integration, franchise shifts to the West Coast, a potential rival league, the major leagues' expansion, and labor issues that included paying young prospects not to play.

The cards help tell the players' stories, too. The slugger who had a date with Marilyn Monroe (no, not Joe DiMaggio), and the minor leaguer b...