Before the Game

by Louis D. Rubin Jr.

Photographs show baseball players during interviews, signing autographs, playing practical jokes, warming up, and relaxing in the clubhouse

247 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1988

About the author

Louis Decimus Rubin Jr. was born into a Jewish family in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 19, 1923. He studied for two years at the College of Charleston, served in the Army during World War II (1939–1945), and earned a BA in history at the University of Richmond.

Louis D. Rubin is a writer, editor, publisher, educator, and literary critic, and perhaps the person most responsible for the emergence of southern literature as a field of scholarly inquiry. He served on the faculty of Hollins College (now Hollins University) in Roanoke, Virginia. He coedited Southern Renascence, an important compilation of southern studies; founded the journal Hollins Critic; established the Southern Literary Studies series at the Louisiana State University Press; cofounded the Southern Literary Journal; cofounded Algonquin Books, a literary press that showcases emerging southern writers; and promoted the early work of important southern writers, including Clyde Edgerton, John Barth, and Virginia writers Lee Smith and Annie Dillard.

Reviews

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love books on baseball and subsequently picked up this book to satisfy that need. I was disappointed. It had the purpose to summarize the activities of the pregame of major league ballplayers which is a somewhat dubious activity. My problem with the book is that it covered only a few teams, a few stadiums and a limited amount of time. [mainly the mid 1980's]. The pictures were also limited to a few teams, a few stadiums and continually limited itself to principally New York Yankee and Detroit Tigers players. I am generally easily pleased with anything baseball, therefore this effort puts me at unease to be so critical.