Beyond Baseball's Color Barrier

The Story of African Americans in Major League Baseball, Past, Present, and Future

Inbunden, Engelska, 2021

569 kr

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A fascinating history celebrating Black players in Major League Baseball from the 1800s through today, with special insight into what the future may hold.In Beyond Baseball's Color Barrier: The Story of African Americans in Major League Baseball, Past, Present, and Future, Rocco Constantino chronicles the history of generations of ballplayers, showing how African Americans have influenced baseball from the 1800s to the present. He details how the color line was drawn, efforts made to erode it, and the progress towards Jackie Robinson’s debut—including a pre-integration survey in which players unanimously promoted integration years before it actually happened. Personal accounts and colorful stories trace the exponential growth of diversity in the sport since integration, from a boom in participation in the 1970s to peak participation in the early 1990s, but also reveal the current downward trend in the number of African American players to percentages not seen since the 1960s. Beyond Baseball's Color Barrier not only explores the stories of icons like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Satchel Paige but also considers contributions made by players like Vida Blue, Mudcat Grant and Dwight Gooden. Exclusive interviews with former players and individuals involved in the game, including the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, add first-hand expert insight into the history of the topic and what the future holds.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2021-05-12
Mått160 x 240 x 22 mm
Vikt476 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor232
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
MedarbetareTiant,Luis
ISBN9781538149089

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Rocco Constantinois the director of athletics at Santa Barbara City College and a sports historian. He is the co-founder and lead baseball writer for BallNine.com and has written for many national online media outlets, including Bleacher Report, Baseball Hot Corner, America Online, and multiple collegiate athletics official websites. Constantino’s first book, 50 Moments That Defined Major League Baseball, was published by Rowman & Littlefield and was named among Sports Collectors Digest’s best baseball books of 2016. Constantino resides in Santa Barbara, California.

In 1889, Moses Fleetwood Walker was the last Black baseball player to compete at a major league level, until the day Jackie Robinson set foot on Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947. In this fantastic chronicle of Black baseball players, Constantino highlights some of the most important athletes to ever grace the game, including Hank Aaron, Vida Blue, Dwight Gooden, Reggie Jackson, and Willie Mays. Their stories are supplemented by Constantino’s interview with Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City, MO. The individual players’ narratives are part of a larger story about the racism in 20th-century baseball. The book spends much time on Jackie Robinson, and on the Black players who were relegated to the International League or the Minor League. Constantino successfully brings to life the stories of perhaps lesser-known players, like Jim O’Rourke. The book also touches on Indigenous baseball players and the long history of Cuban players in the Major Leagues. A fascinating and important look at baseball history, which will be appreciated by any fan of the sport.