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Total Baseball:
| The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball |
Edited by John Thorn, Pete Palmer, Michael Gershman and David Pietrusza
From Amazon.com
Once the upstart reference for fans,
Total Baseball, now in its sixth edition,
has evolved into the official
encyclopedia of Major League
Baseball. It's not hard to see why.
Like its older cousin, the Baseball
Encyclopedia, it is a mammoth volume
filled with yearly results, awards,
detailed postseason and all-star
accounts, and the complete career
statistics of every major-league player
through 1998. But while the
Encyclopedia has basically remained a
book of numbers, Total Baseball
crams in hundreds of pages of words:
there are essays on everything baseball.
The lineup covers the bases from the
traditional (team histories, baseball
reporting, and the 400 best players) to
the marvelously esoteric (baseball
families, baseball movies, and women
and baseball).
Sadly, some terrific veteran pieces—
poet Donald Hall's provocative analysis
of the national significance of "Casey at
the Bat," an essay on baseball and the
law, an account of Jackie Robinson's
signing, and a comprehensive chronicle
of rule and scoring changes—have
been retired, so don't banish your Fifth
Edition to left field. Happily, their
replacements are equally all-star: a
Robert Creamer essay on Casey
Stengel, greater coverage of the game
outside the United States, a thorough
Bartlett's of baseball quotations, and
Warner Fuselle's engaging history of
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and
other noted arias.
Finally, a caveat: the player statistics are
crammed in so tightly you'll wish Total
Baseball included a magnifying glass.
Still, squinting is a small price to pay for
so Ruthian a chunk of baseball heaven.
Once the upstart reference for fans,
Total Baseball, now in its sixth edition,
has evolved into the official
encyclopedia of Major League
Baseball. It's not hard to see why.
Like its older cousin, the Baseball
Encyclopedia, it is a mammoth volume
filled with yearly results, awards,
detailed postseason and all-star
accounts, and the complete career
statistics of every major-league player
through 1998. But while the
Encyclopedia has basically remained a
book of numbers, Total Baseball
crams in hundreds of pages of words:
there are essays on everything baseball.
The lineup covers the bases from the
traditional (team histories, baseball
reporting, and the 400 best players) to
the marvelously esoteric (baseball
families, baseball movies, and women
and baseball).
Sadly, some terrific veteran pieces—
poet Donald Hall's provocative analysis
of the national significance of "Casey at
the Bat," an essay on baseball and the
law, an account of Jackie Robinson's
signing, and a comprehensive chronicle
of rule and scoring changes—have
been retired, so don't banish your Fifth
Edition to left field. Happily, their
replacements are equally all-star: a
Robert Creamer essay on Casey
Stengel, greater coverage of the game
outside the United States, a thorough
Bartlett's of baseball quotations, and
Warner Fuselle's engaging history of
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and
other noted arias.
Finally, a caveat: the player statistics are
crammed in so tightly you'll wish Total
Baseball included a magnifying glass.
Still, squinting is a small price to pay for
so Ruthian a chunk of baseball heaven.
JOHN THORN is one of the
country's foremost baseball experts
and historians. He created the
original edition of Total Baseball in
1989 with Pete Palmer, has written
a multitude of baseball books since
1974, is a frequent guest on ESPN
when the subject of baseball history
and records is on the front burner
and was the principal consultant on
Ken Burns' epochal documentary
series, Baseball. Thorn lives in
Kingston, New York.
PETE PALMER is baseball's premier
statistician. In 1984 he worked with
Thorn on the groundbreaking book,
The Hidden Game of Baseball,
which eventually led to Total
Baseball. Palmer lives in Hollis,
New Hampshire.
MICHEAL GERSHMAN, a co-
founder of Total Sports and a co-
editor of Total Football, passed
away on January 4, 2000.
DAVID PIETRUSZA is the author
or editor of over two dozen books,
many of them on baseball. Despite
the fact that he is indeed a writer â
€” or "A WRITER!!!!!" as Ted
Williams put it during their first
meeting — Pietrusza and the
Splendid Splinter worked together
on several projects, culminating in
Teddy Ballgame: My Life in
Pictures. Pietrusza has co-edited
Total Baseball and Baseball: The
Biographical Encyclopedia. His
Judge and Jury: The Life and Times
of Kenesaw Mountain Landis
captured the 1998 CASEY Award
as best baseball book of the year.
country's foremost baseball experts
and historians. He created the
original edition of Total Baseball in
1989 with Pete Palmer, has written
a multitude of baseball books since
1974, is a frequent guest on ESPN
when the subject of baseball history
and records is on the front burner
and was the principal consultant on
Ken Burns' epochal documentary
series, Baseball. Thorn lives in
Kingston, New York.
PETE PALMER is baseball's premier
statistician. In 1984 he worked with
Thorn on the groundbreaking book,
The Hidden Game of Baseball,
which eventually led to Total
Baseball. Palmer lives in Hollis,
New Hampshire.
MICHEAL GERSHMAN, a co-
founder of Total Sports and a co-
editor of Total Football, passed
away on January 4, 2000.
DAVID PIETRUSZA is the author
or editor of over two dozen books,
many of them on baseball. Despite
the fact that he is indeed a writer â
€” or "A WRITER!!!!!" as Ted
Williams put it during their first
meeting — Pietrusza and the
Splendid Splinter worked together
on several projects, culminating in
Teddy Ballgame: My Life in
Pictures. Pietrusza has co-edited
Total Baseball and Baseball: The
Biographical Encyclopedia. His
Judge and Jury: The Life and Times
of Kenesaw Mountain Landis
captured the 1998 CASEY Award
as best baseball book of the year.
| --”Jeff Silverman |
Total Baseball (Vol. VI) Contents
PART ONE
Introduction
The History
1. Team Histories, Frederick Ivor Campbell
and David Pietrusza
2. Ballparks, Philip J. Lowry
3. Major League Attendance, Robert L.
Tiemann
4. The 400 Greatest Players, Michael
Gershman
5. Casey Stengel, Robert Creamer
The Players
6. The Home Run Race, Gary Gillette
7. Baseball Families, Larry Amman
8. Greenberg to Green: Jewish Ballplayers,
David Spaner
9. Streaks and Feats, Jack Kavanagh
10. Awards and Honors, Bill Deane
11. All-Star Game, Frederick-Ivor Campbell
with Matthew Silverman
12. Postseason Play, Frederick-Ivor
Campbell with Matthew Silverman
Other Leagues
13. Black Ball, Jules Tygiel
14. The Minor Leagues, Bob Hoie
15. Japanese Baseball, Yoichi Nagatta and
John B. Holway
16. Baseball in the Caribbean, Rob Ruck and
Eduardo Valero
17. Baseball in Canada, Bruce L. Prentice
18. Baseball in Australia, Robert Laidlaw
19. Baseball in Korea, Thomas St. John
20. Baseball in Taiwan, Jeffrey Wilson
21. Spring Training, Myles E. Friedman
22. Women in Baseball, Debra A. Shattuck
The Game Off the Field
23. Baseball and the Law, Gary D. Hailey
24. The Amateur Free Agent Draft, Allan
Simpson
25. Fantasy Baseball, Don L. Daglow, Jack
Kavanagh, and Garth Chouteau
26. Reel Baseball: The Movies, Bob Carroll
and Rob Edelman
PART TWO
The Registers, Leaders, and Rosters
The Player Register
The Pitcher Register
The Annual Record, Rosters, and Highlights,
Pete Palmer and James Charlton
The All-Time Leaders
Lifetime Leaders
Single Season Leaders
The Manager Roster
The Coach Roster
The Umpire Roster, Larry R. Gerlach
The Owners and Officials Roster, David
Pietrusza
Appendixes
1. Baseball Quotations, Sean Lehman
2. Notes on Contributors
3. Glossary of Statistical Terms
4. Team and League Abbreviations
PART ONE
Introduction
The History
1. Team Histories, Frederick Ivor Campbell
and David Pietrusza
2. Ballparks, Philip J. Lowry
3. Major League Attendance, Robert L.
Tiemann
4. The 400 Greatest Players, Michael
Gershman
5. Casey Stengel, Robert Creamer
The Players
6. The Home Run Race, Gary Gillette
7. Baseball Families, Larry Amman
8. Greenberg to Green: Jewish Ballplayers,
David Spaner
9. Streaks and Feats, Jack Kavanagh
10. Awards and Honors, Bill Deane
11. All-Star Game, Frederick-Ivor Campbell
with Matthew Silverman
12. Postseason Play, Frederick-Ivor
Campbell with Matthew Silverman
Other Leagues
13. Black Ball, Jules Tygiel
14. The Minor Leagues, Bob Hoie
15. Japanese Baseball, Yoichi Nagatta and
John B. Holway
16. Baseball in the Caribbean, Rob Ruck and
Eduardo Valero
17. Baseball in Canada, Bruce L. Prentice
18. Baseball in Australia, Robert Laidlaw
19. Baseball in Korea, Thomas St. John
20. Baseball in Taiwan, Jeffrey Wilson
21. Spring Training, Myles E. Friedman
22. Women in Baseball, Debra A. Shattuck
The Game Off the Field
23. Baseball and the Law, Gary D. Hailey
24. The Amateur Free Agent Draft, Allan
Simpson
25. Fantasy Baseball, Don L. Daglow, Jack
Kavanagh, and Garth Chouteau
26. Reel Baseball: The Movies, Bob Carroll
and Rob Edelman
PART TWO
The Registers, Leaders, and Rosters
The Player Register
The Pitcher Register
The Annual Record, Rosters, and Highlights,
Pete Palmer and James Charlton
The All-Time Leaders
Lifetime Leaders
Single Season Leaders
The Manager Roster
The Coach Roster
The Umpire Roster, Larry R. Gerlach
The Owners and Officials Roster, David
Pietrusza
Appendixes
1. Baseball Quotations, Sean Lehman
2. Notes on Contributors
3. Glossary of Statistical Terms
4. Team and League Abbreviations
| Other Baseball Books by David Pietrusza |
