Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era

by Charles C. Alexander

The first comprehensive history of baseball during the Great Depression, by the esteemed Charles Alexander. Read about the players, personalities, and political forces that shaped and guided America’s most beloved game, and allowed it to continue to thrive even during some of the country’s darkest days. It is a tribute to our National Pastime that baseball took on even greater importance to millions of Americans while so many suffered through challenges to survive.

Great teams like the Philadelphia A’s and St. Louis’s Gas House Gang are covered, as well as superstars like Lou Gehrig and Lefty Grove, the departure of Babe Ruth and arrival of Joe DiMaggio. The era also included some of the greatest offensive seasons ever as well as the most exciting World Series.

As with all his histories, Alexander captures both the flavor of the game and the times about which he writes; the result is both informative and highly entertaining. Winner of SABR’s prestigious Seymour Medal in 2003, recognizing the year’s best book of baseball history or biography.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

397 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2002

Reviews

[Miguel E. Tersy]

Excellent Book

Charles Alexander did a wonderful job in how baseball survived during the Great Depression. The A's, once a World Series champion, had to sell their star ballplayers to survive which it never recovered while the Yankees dominated the 1930's. What I found most interesting was Bonus Wagner's view on the current pitching of that era. He said managers are relying too much on relief pitching. He predicted starters will be pitching fewer innings and other will be fewer complete games. If this continues he predicted the game will take longer to complete and the fans will be bored. That prediction sadly has come true. This is a wonderful book for sports history fans.

[Mark]

At times, the narrative reads like a recreation broadcast pulled from the boxscore. Breaking the Slump would have gone for extra bases if “Organized Baseball” had been better framed within the cultural experience of America during the Depression, and less like a forced march through every season using the same thematic structure. After a couple of times, it was clear that the loser of the World Series received a smaller players’ share and the “Negro Leagues” were poor tabulators of team standings. We get it. Even when Alexander balks, strikes out or throws at our head, how can you not like a day at the “Old Ball Game?”

[Lyndon Langston]

I really enjoyed the book I found it very interesting because this book talks about the history of baseball and how it has risen in today's life and the difference of baseball from back in the day to today's every day baseball life.