The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2011–2012

The 2011–2012 volume in the Cooperstown Symposium series is a collection of new scholarly essays that use baseball to examine topics whose import extends beyond the ballpark. The essays represent 16 of the leading presentations from the two most recent proceedings of the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, held on June 1–4, 2011, and May 30–June 1, 2012.
The essays are divided into six parts. “Baseball History, Myth, and the American Past” considers the distinction between reality and remembrance. “Decade of Transition: The 1960s in Baseball and America” explores a critical passage in the evolution of the nation and the game. “Baseball Economics: Owners, Profits, and the Public” provides perspectives on sports as business. “Out of the Bleachers: Women Umpiring and Playing” links the game to those who participate and care about it despite the expectations of atavistic gender roles. “Casting the Game: Stage and Screen” examines theatrical and cinematic treatments of baseball. Part 6, “Game of Numbers: Statistical Baseball,” examines the sport and its artifacts quantitatively.

William M. Simons is professor of history at the State University of New York–Oneonta.

Edited by William M. Simons
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 256
Bibliographic Info: tables, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7295-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0273-8
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Cooperstown Symposium Series

Acknowledgments (William M. Simons) vii
Introduction (William M. Simons) 1
Part I: Baseball History, Myth, and the American Past
Baseball’s Unchanging Past: A Necessary Illusion (John Thorn) 13
Baseball’s Winter of Discontent, 1926–1927 (Charles DeMotte) 21
The 1926 World Series: A Reflection of the “Roaring Twenties” (Paul E. Doutrich) 31
A Wife’s Memento and Memorial: The Lou Gehrig Scrapbooks (Jon S. Arakaki) 41
The Rise and Demise of Minor League Baseball in Oneonta,
1966–2010 (Michael Sokolow) 53
Part II: Decade of Transition: The 1960s in Baseball and America
The New Frontier: Baseball and the Zeitgeist of JFK’s America (William M. Simons) 72
Marvin Miller and Free Agency: The Pivotal Year, 1969 (David A. Bohmer) 88
Part III: Baseball Economics: Owners, Profits, and the Public
MLB Leaks Financial Statements: A Factual Analysis (Kenneth Winter and Michael J. Haupert) 100
The Building of Yankee Stadium: Tax-Exempt Bonds and Federal Subsidies for the Richest Team in Baseball (Patricia L. Bryan) 117
Celebrating Nostalgia, Legalizing Extortion, and Subsidizing Greed: The Hegemony of the Retro Ballpark (Timothy Jurkovac) 136
Part IV: Out of the Bleachers: Women Umpiring and Playing
Women in Black: Pearls of Wisdom from Behind the Plate (Perry Barber and Jean Hastings Ardell) 148
America’s Baseball Underground: Invisible Women in the National Pastime (Jennifer Ring) 160
Part V: Casting the Game: Stage and Screen
A Less Than Perfect Game, in a Less Than Perfect Place: The Critical Turn in Baseball Film (Marshall G. Most and Robert Rudd) 180
Theater’s Curve Balls: Baseball Plays and the American Psyche (Tim Good) 196
Part VI: Game of Numbers: Statistical Baseball
Assessing Consumer Preference for Hall of Fame Baseball Player Cards (Michael R. McAvoy) 204
Quality Starts: Redefining Its Relevance (Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr.) 218
Index 231