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Baseball: The Golden Age
The second volume of Harold Seymour's definitive history of baseball brings back the glorious era when the game's hold over the imagination of the American people was strongest, and Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were legendary figures.
No one can match Dr. Seymour for grasp of the game, for thorough research into original sources never before examined, and ability to recapture its excitement and the tense expectancy with which the American public followed the teams' and players' exploits.
With the formation of the two major leagues in 1903, baseball entered upon a golden age of popularity. Looking at it both as a business and an American institution, Seymour traces the changes in the organization of professional baseball--from an unwieldy three-man commission to the strong one-man rule of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He shows how the play on the field shifted from the low-scoring, pitcher-dominated game of the "dead ball" era before World War I to the higher scoring of the "lively ball" era of the 1920s, with emphasis on home runs, best exemplified by the exploits of Babe Ruth.
[Note: In August 2010, Oxford University Press announced that it would henceforth credit Dorothy Seymour Mills as co-author of the three baseball histories previously credited solely to her late husband, Harold Seymour. (She has also published as Dorothy Jane Mills)].
No one can match Dr. Seymour for grasp of the game, for thorough research into original sources never before examined, and ability to recapture its excitement and the tense expectancy with which the American public followed the teams' and players' exploits.
With the formation of the two major leagues in 1903, baseball entered upon a golden age of popularity. Looking at it both as a business and an American institution, Seymour traces the changes in the organization of professional baseball--from an unwieldy three-man commission to the strong one-man rule of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He shows how the play on the field shifted from the low-scoring, pitcher-dominated game of the "dead ball" era before World War I to the higher scoring of the "lively ball" era of the 1920s, with emphasis on home runs, best exemplified by the exploits of Babe Ruth.
[Note: In August 2010, Oxford University Press announced that it would henceforth credit Dorothy Seymour Mills as co-author of the three baseball histories previously credited solely to her late husband, Harold Seymour. (She has also published as Dorothy Jane Mills)].
500 pages, Hardcover
First published July 15, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 18, 2021
Like his earlier book, the Golden Age is exhaustively researched and covers the off-the-field aspects of the game, largely concerned with the league owners, league structure, baseball economics, and battles among the players and owners. It covers the time period of about 1901 to 1929, describing events in excruciating detail. On-the-field performance of teams and players are largely mentioned only in passing, except for the final two chapters, which seem like an afterthought. If you are interested in a baseball history that covers in detail what happened on the field during this period, this book is not for you.
August 17, 2012
The second of three volumes, Seymour tackles the "Babe Ruth era" when baseball truly became the national pastime. Very written and entertaining.
June 8, 2016
Date approximate
Note read and owned paperback book with different image
Note read and owned paperback book with different image
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews