The American Game
Subtitle: Baseball and Ethnicity (Writing Baseball)
Contributors: Allan H Selig (Foreword); Lawrence Baldassaro (Editor); Richard Johnson (Editor)
Edition: 1st Edition edition
Publisher: Southern Illinois University
Published: May 30, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780809324460
Subjects: American studies; Baseball; Ethnic studies; Social history; United States; Ethnic Studies - General; Baseball - General; Sports & Recreation; Sports; USA; Ethnicity; Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General; Baseball - History; Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General; Social aspects
First sentence: Ever since athletes of German and Irish descent entered the major leagues in large numbers more than a century ago, the ethnic background of baseball players has fascinated fans and the media.
Description: These nine essays selected by Lawrence Baldassaro and Richard A. Johnson present an ethnic and racial profile of American baseball. These essayists show how the gradual involvement by various ethnic and racial groups reflects the changing nature of baseball-and of American society as a whole-over the course of the twentieth century. Although the sport could not truly be called representative of America until after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947, fascination with the ethnic backgrounds of the players began more than a century ago when athletes of German and Irish descent entered the major leagues in large numbers. In the 1920s, commentators noted the influx of ballplayers of Italian and Slavic origins and wondered why there were not more Jewish players in the big leagues. The era following World War II, however, saw the most dramatic ethnographic shift with the belated entry of African American ballplayers. The pattern of ethnic succession continues as players of Hispanic and Asian origin infuse fresh excitement and renewal into the major leagues.