The Farmers' Game: Baseball in Rural America
This highly readable book makes clear that rural baseball has always been every bit as central to the American experience as has its metropolitan counterpart.(Choice)The author has opened a window onto a rich area of exploration and understanding in rural history and into the complex relationships between Americans and baseball.(Jim McCabeAssociation for Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums)A refreshing and thoughtful addition to the history of baseball.(September 2013, George KirschJournal of American History)While baseball thrives on statistics, this book is an absorbing read not for the numbers... but for the social and historical issues it brings to the forefront.(Bob D'AngeloThe Tampa Tribune)Vaught's book is a masterwork... What makes this book particularly noteworthy is the author's rich knowledge of America's agricultural past. That alone is worth the price of admission.(Roger I. AbramsAmerican Historical Review)For those interested in baseball's place in local history, whether in rural or regional terms, this is an extraordinarily good book.(Benjamin G. RaderAnnals of Iowa)A solidly researched and well-written piece of history, one that fills a large void in our understanding of baseball's significant role in American life, particularly away from the big city lights... Baseball enthusiasts should find this book of interest, and university instructors of U.S. cultural history courses could use chapters as supplementary reading.(Thomas SaylorMinnesota History)The Farmers' Gamewould enhance any academic library's sports history collection...The Farmers' Gamecan be group with the works of Jules Tygiel as clear-eyed analyses of how the sport and its historical context illuminate each other.(Chistopher DeRosaNew York History)The Farmers' Gameis a sympathetic yet straightforward account of a pastoral game. Periods of prosperity and famine have always come to farmers as regularly and unexpectedly as streaks have to batters, though the stakes are almost never as high for the player. For its pointing out the symmetry in those alternately joyful and grievous experiences, and for much else, we are indebted to David Vaught's excellent book.(Chris BenekeJournal of Southern History)A critical, well-researched, and well-written analysis of the relationship between agrarian American and baseball.(Joel S. FranksNINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture)