Plott’s book...enriches the historiography of black baseball, as well as that of baseball more broadly. The assumptions of ESPN’s Hall of 100 reveal that popular conceptions of baseball history remain confined to the white major leagues. Overmyer [Black Ball and the Boardwalk, McFarland 2015] and Plott contest this assumption by illuminating the triumphant, tumultuous, and trailblazing histories of the Bacharach Giants and Negro Southern League. Both authors ambitiously tackled subjects that required diligent and tedious archival research. The detailed accounts they provide not only validate the scholarly seriousness with which they approached their studies, but their passionate commitment to recovering black baseball and ensuring it receives rightful historical appreciation.”—Cat Ariail, Sport in American History; “Plott’s intellectual and organizational feat of producing coherent history out of [a] welter of facts is extremely impressive...definitive...a must. The Negro Southern League will be a must acquisition for amateur or professional baseball historians, library collections, and anyone interested in Southern and African-American history. It is an essential part of the record of American sport.”—Tim Morris, Sport Literature Association; “Plott’s book fills a tremendous void in Negro League history”—The Courier; “This immensely entertaining book fills a void in the story of American baseball. Plott has delved through hundreds of newspaper accounts and...[i]n what must have been a herculean effort, [he] has provided appendices listing the yearly rosters of the teams, lists of pennant winners, even no-hit games, compiling in one volume statistics that might have been lost to history if not for his research. This immensely entertaining book fills a void in the story of American baseball. Anyone interested in the history of baseball will love this book; baseball nuts will devour it”—Alabama Writers’ Forum; “The definitive work on black baseball in the South.”—Layton Revel, Center for Negro League Baseball Research.
