Base Ball 11

Offering the best in original research and analysis, Base Ball is an annually published book series that promotes the study of baseball’s early history, from its protoball roots to 1920, and its rise to prominence within American popular culture. This volume, number 11, includes a dozen articles on topics ranging from the uses and abuses of mascots and batboys, attempts to revive the major league American Association, and the meaning of early club names to the founding of the National League, the finances of the Union Association, and the early years of future Giants magnate John T. Brush. The volume also includes thoughtful reviews of recently published books on women’s baseball, the 1887 Detroit Wolverines, and the American League pennant race in 1908.

Don Jensen, a longtime SABR member, is the director of Russia and Strategic Stability at the United States Institute of Peace and an adjunct professor at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Edited by Don Jensen

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 263
Bibliographic Info: 66 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6386-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2333-7
Imprint: McFarland

Editor’s Note vii

Articles
Sticks or Clubs: Ball Play Along the Route of Burgoyne’s “Convention Army”
Brian Turner 1
The Bat-Ball Legacy of Philadelphia Cricket
Jerrold Casway 17
Sons of Liberty: The Meaning of Early Base Ball Club Names
Thomas W. Gilbert 29
Sunday Baseball Adoption in the Minor Leagues
Charlie Bevis 50
“The bat boy or whatever you wish to call him”
J.W. Stewart 67
History Awakens: February 2, 1876, and the Founding of the National League
John Thorn 90
John T. Brush: The Early Years, 1845–1888
David Kathman 118
Thrice Stillborn: Turn-of-the-Century Attempts to Resurrect the Once–Major League American Association
Bill Lamb 140
A Season on the Brink: A Financial Summary of the Union Association in 1884
Justin Mckinney 167
Everyone Knew but the Atlantics: The 1862 National Association Championship and First Silver Ball Trophy
Eric Miklich 192
How Good Was Ed “The Only” Nolan?
Richard Hershberger 208
Slagle to Hofman to Evers: Stability and Transition on the Chicago Cubs Championship Teams, 1906–1910
David Shiner 219

Book Reviews 233
About the Contributors 245
Index 247