When Chicago Ruled Baseball

In 1906 the baseball world saw something that had never been done. Two teams from the same city squared off against each other in a World Series that pitted the heavily favored Cubs of the National League against the hardscrabble American League champion White Sox. Now, more than a century later, noted historian Bernard A. Weisberger tells the tale of a unique time in baseball, a unique time in America, and a time when Chicago was at the center of it all.When Chicago Ruled Baseball brings to life a dazzling epoch in a land of the self-made manwhere A. G. Spalding helped establish baseball as both a national pastime and a thriving business, where Mordecai Three-Finger Brown overcame a horribly disfiguring injury and pitched his way into the Hall of Fame . . . and Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance proved that you could use teamwork to stand out as stars. Weisberger brings to life an unforgettable story of how a city that had rebuilt itself from the ashes of the Great Fire thirty-five years earlier became the focal point of an entire baseball-loving country, and one grand sporting contest staked its claim as one of the most remarkable and electrifying World Series ever to be played. Some images that appeared in the print edition of this book are unavailable in the electronic edition due to rights reasons.

Autorentext

Bernard A. Weisberger is a distinguished teacher and author of American history. He has been on the faculties of the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester, is a contributing editor of American Heritage for which he wrote a regular column for ten years, has worked on television documentaries with Bill Moyers and Ken Burns, and has published some dozen and a half books as well as numerous articles and reviews. He lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife.

Klappentext

A fascinating look at the storied World Series of 1906—a thrilling contest between the Chicago Cubs and their upstart crosstown rivals, the Chicago White Sox.

The local press nicknamed the Sox the "Hitless Wonders”—a team that emerged as American League champs without a productive offense. But player/manager Patsy Dougherty led a team that knew when and where the hits were needed, and the hits were never needed more than in their first World Series appearance. The Sox took off with a stunning Game One victory, and never looked back.

A Chicago that had rebuilt itself from the Great Fire that had left it in ashes only 35 years earlier was now the focal point of an entire baseball-loving nation. The city, the fans, and the players were on display, and for six thrilling nights in fall, baseball fans everywhere were on the edge of their seats, and the Second City was, most certainly, the First City of Baseball.