19th century baseball books?

[cozmokramer]

I enjoy collecting Old Judges and love the Old Judge book and learning about the game back then - thanks to the members here for their efforts on it!

What other books are recommended to learn more about baseball in the same 19th century era?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by cozmokramer

I enjoy collecting Old Judges and love the Old Judge book and learning about the game back then - thanks to the members here for their efforts on it!

What other books are recommended to learn more about baseball in the same 19th century era?

Without a doubt, "59 in '84", the story of Charles Radbourn's incredible 59-win season. While obviously a detailed recounting of his feats that year, there's a lot of great information on baseball from that timeframe as well. Highly recommended.

[sgbernard]

Jerrold Casway’s book on Ed Delehanty is a fantastic introduction to 19th c. baseball:

https://www.amazon.com/Ed-Delahanty-.../dp/0268022917

[Case12]

This one is very good. The best I have come across. The title sounds a bit funky, but it is well researched. 4 inches thick. You can find it used on eBay or Amazon or thriftbooks for less than 10 bucks.

The Great Encyclopedia of 19th Century Major League Baseball. By David Nemec.

[Jason Carota]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Without a doubt, "59 in '84", the story of Charles Radbourn's incredible 59-win season. While obviously a detailed recounting of his feats that year, there's a lot of great information on baseball from that timeframe as well. Highly recommended.

Great book!

I also recommend The Summer of Beer and Whiskey from the same author (Edward Achorn.)

[kkkkandp]

David Nemec has a number of great baseball books about the early game.

The Beer and Whiskey League (not to be confused with the title immediately above) is one of them.

https://www.ebay.com/p/30208121?iid=...caAogsEALw_wcB

[cozmokramer]

Thank you all, exactly what I’m looking for!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigfanNY]

Spaulding's our National game. He wrote it in 1911 and has lots of great information on early pro baseball.

[bgar3]

Agree with a Jonathan on Spalding National Game, but also add the other 2 major histories from the same time period, Spink, National Game, Richter, History Base Ball. Finally, for very early stuff I suggest Peverelly, American Pastimes. I think all of these have been reprinted recently, but there is nothing like the originals.

[btcarfagno]

The Great Baseball Revolt: The Rise and Fall of the Players League of 1890. Author Robert B Ross. Great book regarding the time period of the players in the Old Judge set.

And going back further, Baseball In The Garden Of Eden by John Thorn.

[oldjudge]

“Catcher” by Peter Morris is one of my favorite books; it details the evolution of the position. A great period written book is “The History of the Boston Base Ball Club” by George Touhey (reprints are available).

[bbnut]

It's been a long time since I read it, but I was really impressed with these:

Sol White's History of Colored Base Ball from 1907 tells about black baseball from the 1880s to 1907. I remember enjoying it very much. Sol White was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Baseball: The Early Years by Harold Seymour. A little dry, but packed with some good content. Part of a 3 or 4 volume baseball history set.