<![CDATA[
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#CC0000" alink="#CC0000"><center><hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade>The one book to own to understand the changes in baseball-the-game and baseball-the-business<hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade><p><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9781566396387&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><img src="1416_reg.gif" height=200 border=1 vspace=4></p></center><!--none//--><h1>Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball</h1>
<h3>Leonard Koppett</h3>
<P>cloth 1-56639-638-7 $36.95, Sep 98, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Out of Stock Unavailable</FONT>
<BR> 521 pp
7x10
26 tables
</P><h3 align="center"><P><font color="#996633">Nominee, Seymour Medal,
1999</font></P>
</H3>
<BLOCKQUOTE><I>"No one knows, understands, and interprets the history of major-league baseball so well as Leonard Koppett. He is a student of the game, and of most other aspects of life, and he knows how the one fits into the other. He also knows how to research, how to report, and how to write. He is perfectly equipped to write a rich, readable and reasonable history of the game."</I>
<br>—<b>Dick Schaap</b>, <I>ABC News</I><I></I></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p><I>Koppett's Concise History</I> provides an overview and explanation of all the major events and personalities that made baseball America's national game.
<p>As early as the 1880s, many basic baseball strategies-pitching high and tight or low and away; first basemen lining up well wide of the base they were "covering"; throwing breaking balls and change-ups; bunting as well as swinging away-were already in use. But the history of the game is a story of changes that have been controversial for fans and players.
<p>Leonard Koppett takes the reader through the long-standing back-and-forth over the balance between offense and defense-dead balls versus lively balls, changes in the strike zone and mound height, and
arguments about competitive balance among teams in different eras. He explores the controversies over the introduction of night baseball, radio and TV broadcasting, the farm system, domed stadiums, the expansion draft to create ten-team leagues, divisional play-offs, franchise moves to new cities, and interleague play.
<p>How baseball as business affects the nature of the game is an issue throughout the book. Whether he's talking about free agency, strike actions, or the policies of different commissioners and owners, Koppett is
never afraid to say whose interests are being served.
<p>A major portion of each chapter is devoted to Koppett's lively narratives of the shape and significance of each season from 1892 through 1995. On each point, Koppett has the facts, the stories, and an opinion
about what works for the game and what doesn't.
<BR> <h2>Contents</h2><P>
<p>Introduction: The Premise
<p><b>Part I: Origins</b>
<br>1. Preliminaries
<br>2. The National Association
<p><b>Part II: The League</b>
<br>3. Chicago
<br>4. Two Leagues
<br><I>The Union Association</I>
<br>5. The Revolt of the Players
<br><I>The Brotherhood •
Seasons 1890-91</I>
<br>6. The Monopoly
<br><I>Seasons 1892-99</I>
<p><b>Part III: The Majors</b>
<br>7. War
<br><I>Seasons 1900-1902</I>
<br>8. Peace
<br><I>The World Series •
Ball Parks •
Gambling •
The Doubleday Myth •
Outlaw Leagues and Player Relations •
Seasons 1903-12</I>
<br>9. The Feds
<br><I>Seasons 1913-15</I>
<br>10. Real War
<br><I>Seasons 1916-18</I>
<br>11. The Blowup
<br><I>Seasons 1919-21</I>
<p><b>Part IV: The Golden Age</b>
<br>12. Lively Ball Baseball
<br><I>Selling the Offense •
New Owners •
Seasons 1922-25</I>
<br>13. The Commissioner
<br><I>Seasons 1926-28</I>
<br>14. Boom and Bust
<br><I>Hard Times •
The Farm System •
Yankees and A�s •
Seasons 1929-33</I>
<br>15. An Age of Glory
<br><I>The New Stars •
Radio •
Lights •
The Hall of Fame •
Farm Systems and Administration •
"Break Up the Yankees!" •
Seasons 1934-41</I>
<p><b>Part V: A Changing World</b>
<br>16. Wartime Baseball
<br><I>Seasons 1942-45</I>
<br>17. The Stars Are Back-and on TV!
<br><I>Integration •
Commissioner Chandler •
The Mexican League •
Antitrust •
Unionization •
Ford Frick •
Attendance •
Television and Radio •
Farm Systems •
Veeck as in Wreck •
The Pacific Coast League •
Radio and the Minors •
A New Yankee Dynasty •
Boston to Milwaukee •
Bonus Players •
Seasons 1946-52</I>
<br>18. Movement
<br><I>The Moves •
The Frick Administration •
The </I>New<I> New Stars •
The Minors •
Seasons 1953-57</I>
<br>19. Challenge
<br><I>The Continental League •
The Alternative •
Seasons 1958-60</I>
<p><b>Part VI: Expansion</b>
<br>20. Ten-Team Leagues
<br><I>Demographics •
The New Teams •
The New Parks •
The New Commissioners •
The New Schedule •
The New Rules •
The New Players Association •
Seasons 1961-68</I>
<br>21. Divisions and Play-Offs
<br><I>An Active Commissioner •
An Active Union •
The Flood Case •
An Active Scene •
Seasons 1969-72</I>
<p><b>Part VII: The New Age</b>
<br>22. Free Agency
<br><I>The Designated Hitter •
Arbitration •
More Teams •
The New Reserve System •
Finley versus Kuhn •
Progress •
Seasons 1973-80</I>
<br>23. Strike Two
<br><I>The Rest of the 1981 Season</I>
<br>24. Rolling in Money
<br><I>Commissioner Turnover •
The Labor Front •
Drugs •
Ownership Turnover •
Seasons 1982-92</I>
<br>25. Strike Three
<br><I>1993: Averting Disaster •
1994: Disaster •
1995: Picking Up the Pieces •
Denouement</I>
<p>Afterword: The Summation
<p>Appendixes
<br>A. Commissioners and League Presidents
<br>B. Franchises
<br>C. Club Sales
<br>D. Finances
<br>E. Competitive Balance
<br>F. Offensive Eras
<br>G. Hitting
<br>H. The Designated Hitter
<br>I. Ball Parks
<br>J. Player Awards
<br>K. Why "Pitching Is the Name of the Game"
<br>Sources
<br>Index
</P><BR> <H2>About the Author(s)</H2>
<table><tr><td valign="top"><img src="/tempress/authors/1416_au.gif" height="90" width="75"></td><td width="100%" valign="middle"><p><B>Leonard Koppett</B> has been writing about baseball since the 1940s (his earliest memories include seeing Babe Ruth hit and John McGraw manage) for the New York City newspapers, the San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, and the <I>Sporting News.</I> He is the author of half a dozen baseball books, including <i><a href="1471_reg.html" target="_top">The Man in the Dugout</a></i> (Temple). Koppett is the only sportswriter named to the writers' wing of both the baseball and basketball Halls of Fame.</P></td></tr></table>
<BR><H2>Subject Categories</H2>
<p><A HREF="/tempress/general.html" TARGET="_top">General Interest</a>
<BR><A HREF="/tempress/sports.html" TARGET="_top">Sports</a>
</p>
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