A Woman’s Work

From 1949 until 1990, Dorothy Jane Mills quietly contributed her research and writing to the first baseball histories ever written by a historian. The wife of historian Harold Seymour, she found herself increasingly involved with his books, as the couple presided over mountains of records on the game and worked to prepare his imposing manuscripts for press. But she received no official credit. It was after Dr. Seymour’s passing that other researchers learned she was the unattributed co-author of much of his work.
This important memoir reveals details of the author’s partnership with baseball’s most revered historian. Many new facts regarding Mills’ role come to light. Mills, now recognized as the game’s first woman historian, also explains how her work as a teacher, editor, novelist, children’s author, and public speaker fit into her baseball work. The book contains numerous photographs from the author’s personal collection, most of them in print for the first time as well as a foreword by Steve Gietschier of The Sporting News.

The late Dorothy Jane Mills was the author of 24 books. The first female historian in the Society for American Baseball Research, she was a member of the Association for Women in Sports Media and lived in Tucson, Arizona. Visit her website at www.dorothyjanemills.com.

Dorothy Jane Mills
Foreword by Steve Gietschier
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 256
Bibliographic Info: 53 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2004
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1848-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      v
Foreword      1
Preface      3

1. The Starting Lineup      5
2. Taking the Field      20
3. Getting to First Base      34
4. Delivering the Pitch      52
5. Right Off the Bat      69
6. A Whole New Ball Game      84
7. The Knuckleball      92
8. Two Strong Innings      107
9. Curve Ball      121
10. Relief Pitcher      136
11. Cleanup Hitter      153
12. The Change-Up      165
13. Who’s on First?      182
14. Throw Like a Girl      199
15. Extra Innings      212

Bibliographical Note      225
Index      233

• “A brisk and remarkable read…her story is worth the telling, and worth the reading”—baseball1.com
• “Valuable”—The SABR Deadball Committee Newsletter