Smithsonian Baseball: Game Worn

[Dave Grob]

After about three years of concerted effort, this went to print this week. The book is due out at the end of October. It features two separate but complementary efforts; feature uniform/player photographic essays and an illustrated compendium.

The feature essays are broken down by various eras: The Deadball Era, The Greatest Generation, The Post War Years, The Expansion Era, and the Knit Era. By era, these players/uniforms are featured:

Deadball:
Jack Coombs
Johnny Evers
Fred Lake
Frank Chance
Rube Marquard
Harry Hooper
Earl Yingling
Christy Mathewson
John McGraw
Ty Cobb
Walter Johnson
Branch Rickey
Red Faber

Greatest Generation:
Babe Ruth
Hub Pruett
Muddy Ruel
Frankie Frisch
Sam Rice
George Pipgras
Charlie Gehringer
Lefty Grove
Lefty O’Doul
Dizzy Dean
Schoolboy Rowe
Moe Berg
Randy Moore
Gabby Hartnett
Joe DiMaggio
Ernie Lombardi
Carl Hubbell
Lou Gehrig
Woody Jensen
Jimmie Foxx
Bob Feller
Ted Williams
War Years Uniforms

Post War
Satchel Paige
Warren Spahn
Eddie Waitkus
Stan Musial
Yogi Berra
Jackie Robinson
Roy Campanella
Al Kaline
Hank Aaron
Ted Kluszewski
Ernie Banks
Eddie Mathews

Expansion Era
Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris
Bill Mazeroski
Nellie Fox
Bob Gibson
Pete Rose
Willie Mays
Sandy Koufax
Roberto Clemente
Tom Seaver
Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson
Johnny Bench

Knit Era
Carlton Fisk
Nolan Ryan
Dave Winfield
Lou Brock
Rod Carew
George Brett
Fernando Valenzuela
Mike Schmidt
Cal Ripken Jr.
Bo Jackson
Randy Johnson
Dave Cone

The illustrated compendium features 150 entries for various words, terms, phrases, individuals, and little known/interesting facts related to 20th Century major league baseball uniforms. All told, the 320 pages include approximately 350 color photographs and illustrations. We could have easily gone to something in the realm of a 500+ page count book, but as with all things there are limits; and here it was a total page count based on established/standard publishing guidelines.

At times, Stephen and I felt a young couple arguing over who got invited to a wedding reception, with invitations being dictated by the size of the reception hall. And yes, it was just like “if we include that, then we just have to have this.”

Our hope is that we have included a little something for everyone and that it can be enjoyed on any number of levels.

Dave Grob
davegrob1@aol.com