Sandlot: “The Soul of Baseballâ€

by William A. Aleshire

This is a story about black sandlot baseball teams and some of their individual team members who played in and around Prince George's County, Maryland. Through photographs, text, personal interviews and newspaper accounts, this book enlightens the reader about the exciting and fascinating story of the Washington Blacksox and other sandlot baseball teams who emerged before and after Jackie Robinson had broken the major league baseball color barrier in 1947. This is the first written documentation of these local baseball teams. These teams received little public notice while playing sandlot baseball for fun and the love of the game. The book also acknowledges those Negro league teams that played in Prince George's County as well as the local players who were members. Therefore, this book is a must for historians and serves as a perfect backdrop for exploring an "untold story" of the black baseball experience.

252 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

Reviews

[Stu Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you have a passion for baseball? Sandlot, by William A. Aleshire was situated in America, it tells a story of nine kids who spend their lives meeting up with their friends and playing baseball for hours on end, in the nineteen fifties. The main character, Bennie, is the leader of the group and all of his friends look up too him because of his passion and skills of playing baseball. Bennie is also much more matured than the others and this helps him also in being the leader of the pack. The plot is about the kids hitting the baseball over the fence into some ones garden in which is guarded by what they think is a ferocious dog. Bennie jumps the fence and faces all of their fears of the dog and retrieves the baseball. The main theme of this novel is to face your fears and that is what Bennie does in this novel and William Aleshire does a great job of showing us this. Another theme is friendship and its importance, as the other main character Scottie is nervous of talking to the other boys, as he has just moved in. His relationship with Bennie and the boys builds his confidence and they stay friends until later years. I would give this a 7/10 and I think the author aimed this novel at sort of 11-13 year old age bracket; overall it is a good novel.

[Adrianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It actually has stories of my immediate family members. My uncles William and Rudy. Also, my dad Richard and his sister Ellen . If your family grew up in P.G county Maryland you will love learning about their history.

[Leante Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think this book is really great i played baseball all my life wen i were young n i still do love it rite now today. i wait until baseball start this year im so proud of me and my life

[Sloanshelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think this book is really good, i live the was it explains the story, and i love connecting with books like i did with this one.