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Doubleday Doubletake
For a century or more, Civil War hero Abner Doubleday was credited with inventing the modern game of baseball in Cooperstown in 1839. His name is on historical markers, playing fields, and for a time, even a professional baseball team. The Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown on the hundredth anniversary of his invention.
More recently, however, baseball historians have discounted Doubleday's role altogether. Some have gone so far as to speculate that, being long dead when the myth was created around 1905, Doubleday was a convenient foil for a conspiracy led by Albert Spalding, an adherent of a prominent philosophical and religious movement of the day, to set in stone the American roots of the game. What if the historians are right? And wrong? At the same time? What if we have only begun to grasp the true dimensions of the mystery surrounding Abner Doubleday and the origins of baseball?
Tech entrepreneur Paul Chi Mannington is after a still deeper truth, and Doubleday may point the way. Paul calls on baseball sleuth Adam Wallace to put the Doubleday myth to the test. But he's not the only one on Abner's trail!
More recently, however, baseball historians have discounted Doubleday's role altogether. Some have gone so far as to speculate that, being long dead when the myth was created around 1905, Doubleday was a convenient foil for a conspiracy led by Albert Spalding, an adherent of a prominent philosophical and religious movement of the day, to set in stone the American roots of the game. What if the historians are right? And wrong? At the same time? What if we have only begun to grasp the true dimensions of the mystery surrounding Abner Doubleday and the origins of baseball?
Tech entrepreneur Paul Chi Mannington is after a still deeper truth, and Doubleday may point the way. Paul calls on baseball sleuth Adam Wallace to put the Doubleday myth to the test. But he's not the only one on Abner's trail!
258 pages, Paperback
Published March 16, 2022
About the author
J.B. Manheim
12 books9 followersJB Manheim is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University, where he developed the world's first degree-granting program in political communication and was later founding director of the School of Media & Public Affairs. In 1995 he was named Professor of the Year for the District of Columbia.
He learned his love of baseball collecting splinters in Little League, watching Dizzy Dean on the Game of the Week, and huddling with his grandfather for warmth on July nights at The Mistake By The Lake, AKA, Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
Manheim applies his expertise in politics and the ways of Washington and his understanding of baseball behind the scenes to provide a new perspective on the game through both fiction and nonfiction.
JB Manheim is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.
He learned his love of baseball collecting splinters in Little League, watching Dizzy Dean on the Game of the Week, and huddling with his grandfather for warmth on July nights at The Mistake By The Lake, AKA, Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
Manheim applies his expertise in politics and the ways of Washington and his understanding of baseball behind the scenes to provide a new perspective on the game through both fiction and nonfiction.
JB Manheim is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 13, 2022
If you enjoy history, baseball, and conspiracy theories, you will enjoy "Doubleday Dougletake." Manheim does a great job of incorporating historical facts concerning Doubleday and Cooperstown into the plot. I also enjoyed the side story of Theosophy into the mystery of the novel. I was not familiar with Theosophy until reading the book. It made it all the more interesting. Without giving away too much of the story, the plot moves at a quick pace. I had to pay attention (especially in the beginning) as many characters are introduced throughout the book. Overall, this was an enjoyable and fun book to read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review