Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh (Sport and Society)
Ruck (History, Chatham Coll.) has written a fascinating account of sport in the Iron City's black community. Focusing on 20th-century sandlot baseball, he argues that teams like the Pittsburgh Crawfords "fulfilled vital social and community functions and served as a political arena . . . in which black struggles for recognition and equality were symbolically waged . . . " Making excellent use of oral history interviews, Ruck goes beyond mere sports trivia. He paints a vivid portrait of an urban black society and its love affair with a sporting life it produced and controlled. Highly recommended for educated laypeople and students of American social history. Anthony O. Edmonds, History Dept., Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.