Our Game: An American Baseball History

by Charles C. Alexander

[This is the Audiobook CASSETTE Library Edition in vinyl case.]

[Read by Grover Gardner]

This entertaining history blends anecdote, incident, and analysis as it chronicles the story of our national pastime. Alexander covers the advent of the first professional baseball leagues, the game's surge in the early twentieth century, the Golden Twenties and the Gray Thirties, the breaking of the color line in the late forties, and the game's expansion to its current status as the premier team sport. He describes changing playing styles and outstanding teams and personalities but also demonstrates the many connections between baseball--as game, sport, and business--and the evolution of tastes, values, and institutions in the United States.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, History, Nonfiction

392 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1991

Reviews

[Fred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles C. Alexander is a trained historian, a scholar and a baseball fan. He is not a sport writer, an ex-player or a fanboy and this history reflects who he is. It is a concise, well-written history of baseball that covers the development of the game as a sport and a cultural institution from its earliest days before the Civil War to the beginning of the 1991 season. It makes for pretty fascinating reading. Because Alexander is a rigorous historian, he dismisses many pet theories such as baseball originating in Cooperstown NY, or that Joe Jackson did not know what he was doing, or that players in one era played "harder" or "for the love of the game." He puts each heroic or notorious episode into the broader history of baseball. It is written in chronological order with only occasional asides to address particular people -- Babe Ruth Satchel Paige, Bill Veeck -- or the way the game reflected larger movements in American Culture. In this it will fill in the blank spots in any fans knowledge. I learned a lot about pre-World Series baseball as well as the parity of the 1980s. He does not move from anecdote to anecdote like Ken Burn's book but moves factually through each year. For example he mentions that in 1941 Ted Williams hit .406 after going 4-6 in a double hitter on the last game of the season and Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games that year. Then he is on to 1942 and the impact of World War 2. He remains skeptical that there is something "authentic" or "special" about baseball beyond its amazing ability to outlast the people who seem bent on ruining it from the inside. Also because he ends in 1991 there is nothing about the strike or about steroids. Like many writers at the time he measures pitchers on their "wins" and strikeouts noting that they do not throw complete games anymore. He measures hitters by their average, RBIs and Home Runs, the only stats that mattered at the time which is interesting in its own way.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Audiobook) A older, but decent, overview of the history of baseball. This work reads like a textbook that you might find if you were to ever take a history of baseball course (which the author actually did teach). It covers baseball from its early beginnings in the 1850s up until the 1990 season. It does not go into depth on any one issue, but a brief overview of key dates, players, games, seasons, etc. It does mention the various struggles in baseball, from the Black Sox scandal, racial inequality and labor relations between players and owners. Even with many of the current issues of baseball, it can be hard to remember how labor disputes disrupted the games in the 1970s and 1980s. (In 1994, a strike would cancel the World Series, and for the most part, baseball has avoid any repeat of future labor struggles).

I meant to read/listen to this prior to the start of the baseball season, but with the Corona pandemic, this will have to suffice to cover for the itch that baseball usually scratches. An okay read/listen, and either version (audiobook or e-copy/hard copy) will rate about the same.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

In ‘Our Game: An American Baseball History,’
Charles C. Alexander covers the rich history of America’s pastime, detailing its evolution as a game, a sport, and a business, and shares what it reveals about American culture. Alexander covers in great detail the advent of the first professional baseball leagues, the “Golden Era” of baseball in the early twentieth century, the breaking of the color barrier in 1947, the expansion era in the mid to late twentieth century, the steroid era, and beyond. The book at times reads like a college textbook, with much of it focusing on the business of baseball. It’s interesting, but at times as entertaining as a pitcher’s duel. There’s a lot of detail, but very little action and intrigue. It’s a very academic read, and while it’s a wonderfully comprehensive historical record of the game, it’s a bit of a challenge to get through. As a fan of the game fascinated by its history, I really enjoyed this book, but as a reader, I found it a bit of a slog.

[Kevin Harber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history of baseball from its beginnings up to 1990. The stories get a bit less entertaining and piquant after the 1930s, but I give it credit for treating honestly with the racism that excluded nonwhite players for 60 years (and denied opportunities to nonwhite executives and managers for decades more after that).

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great general overview of the game, but the audiobook i listened to was read by a baseball outsider and either i’ve been pronouncing names wrong my entire life, or he was. kinda took me out of the moment.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of baseball up to 1990. I’d rather focus on evolution of the game than who played who in the playoffs and World Series.

[Kate Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Bookriot's Read Harder Challenge to read a book about sports. While I enjoyed this book greatly, I would not recommend it to someone who isn't well versed in baseball and has a little bit of knowledge of its history. I would suggest watching Ken Burns' Baseball documentary first. Also this book ends in 1990 and I would love an update to include the 2000s. Grover Gardener does a wonderful narration as always.

[Dick Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair, the author covers a lot of territory in a book with less than four hundred pages. What bothered me was some statistical references that were inaccurate (not by enough but I did notice). I highly recommend both his biography of Ty Cobb and John McGraw, but this book less so.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, I read a lot of baseball books in the early 90's. This is a solid history where each decade is given it's own history. I remember the chapter on the rise of the american league was quite good.

[Joseph Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good so far

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

read SOMETIME in 2009