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A Game of Brawl: The Orioles, the Beaneaters, and the Battle for the 1897 Pennant | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Felber
Creator: Edward M. Kennedy
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $16.28
You Save: $8.67 (35%)
New (16) Used (6) from $13.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 556106
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0803211368
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3570973
EAN: 9780803211360
ASIN: 0803211368
Publication Date: September 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It was probably the most cutthroat pennant race in baseball history. And it was a struggle to define how baseball would be played. This book recreates the rowdy, season-long 1897 battle between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Beaneaters. The Orioles had acquired a reputation as the dirtiest team in baseball. Future Hall of Famers John McGraw, Wee Willie Keeler, and “Foxy” Ned Hanlon were proven winners—but their nasty tactics met with widespread disapproval among fans. So it was that their pennant race with the comparatively saintly Beaneaters took on a decidedly moralistic air. Bill Felber brings to life the most intensely watched team sporting event in the country’s history to that time. His book captures the drama of the final week, as the race came down to a three-game series. And finally, it conveys the madness of the third and decisive game, when thirty thousand fans literally knocked down the gates and walls of a facility designed to hold ten thousand to watch the Beaneaters grind out a win and bring down baseball’s first and most notorious evil empire. (20070108)
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| Customer Reviews:
An Aptly Named Book January 4, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book covers the 1897 pennant race between the Boston Beaneaters and the Baltimore Orioles, or the Bostons vs. the Baltimores. Baseball at this time in its history was, indeed, a game of brawl. Players fought on the field, there was rowdiness among fans, umpires exchanged punches with players, oftentimes without penalty, and teams took turns seeing who could invent new profanities to hurl at one another. Games often had only one umpire, two if it was of special significance, and players took advantage by cutting corners while running bases while the lone umpire wasn't watching. With a runner on base an umpire would position himself behind the pitcher to better make calls on the bases. Games were played on ill-kept infields, and players literally kept their eye on a ball and suffered injury. Treatment for a swollen closed eye was leeches to draw out the blood. Boston sent their Royal Rooters contingent to Baltimore to cheer on their heroes, chief among them, John Francis Fitzgerald, better known as "Honey Fitz", grandfather of our late President Kennedy. The book primarily covers the 1897 pennant race between the Beaneaters and Orioles, won by Boston. The top two teams then faced off in the Temple Cup series since there was no World Series at the time. The final section of the book covers what happened to several of the participants, many of which ended up in Baseball's Hall of Fame. Some died from consumption (tuberculosis), Chick Stahl and Patsy Tebeau were suicides, while Marty Bergen murdered his family and then slit his own throat. One drawback for me in the book was too much of a play-by-play from one game to the next as the season is covered. The game of baseball was going through a chaotic time during this period with ineffective leadership in the league, and a thorough cleansing was necessary. If you are interested in this period of the game's history I would recommend this book to you.
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