Tale of Four Cities
Subtitle: Nineteenth Century Baseball's Most Exciting Season; in Contemporary Accounts
Publisher: McFarland & Company; Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub
Published: September 12, 2003
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 342
ISBN-13: 9780786416783
Subjects: Baseball; c 1800 to c 1900; National League of Professiona; Sports & Recreation; Sports; USA; National League of Professional Baseball Clubs; Baseball - History; American Association (Baseball league : 1882-1891); 19th century; American Association (Baseball; History; Sources
Description: "The 1889 baseball season is unique in the history of baseball. Both leagues - the veteran National League and the upstart American Association - featured thrilling pennant races that were not decided until the final day of the season. There was excitement off the field as well: the players' union (known then as "the Brotherhood") sowed the seeds of the most ambitious player revolt in baseball history."

"This work presents accounts from the major newspapers of each of the four teams' cities - the New York Times, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the Boston Herald, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch - to capture the day-by-day excitement of the 1889 pennant race and the passion that the press and public had for baseball. The National League race pitted the world champion New York Giants against the Boston Beaneaters - teams that accounted for 10 Hall of Famers and three players that spearheaded the player revolt.

The American Association race was just as exciting and even more controversial, as team presidents Chris Von der Ahe of the St. Louis Browns and Charles H. Byrne of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms hated each other passionately and Von der Ahe often clashed with his own players."--Jacket.