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Jazz Age Giant
In the early 1920s, when the New York Yankees' first dynasty was
taking shape, they were outplayed by their local rival, the New
York Giants. Led by manager John McGraw the Giants won four
consecutive National League pennants and two World Series, both
against the rival Yankees. Remarkably, the Giants succeeded despite
a dysfunctional and unmanageable front office. And at the center of
the turmoil was one of baseball's more improbable figures: club
president Charles A. Stoneham, who had purchased the Giants for $1
million in 1919, the largest amount ever paid for an American
sports team. Short, stout, and jowly, Charlie Stoneham embodied a
Jazz Age stereotype-a business and sporting man by day, he led
another life by night. He threw lavish parties, lived
extravagantly, and was often chronicled in the city tabloids.
Little is known about how he came to be one of the most successful
investment brokers in what were known as \"bucket shops,\" a highly
speculative and controversial branch of Wall Street. One thing
about Stoneham is clear, however: at the close of World War I he
was a wealthy man, with a net worth of more than $10 million. This
wealth made it possible for him to purchase majority control of the
Giants, one of the most successful franchises in Major League
Baseball. Stoneham, an owner of racehorses, a friend to local
politicians and Tammany Hall, a socialite and a man well placed in
New York business and political circles, was also implicated in a
number of business scandals and criminal activities. The Giants'
principal owner had to contend with federal indictments, civil
lawsuits, hostile fellow magnates, and troubles with booze,
gambling, and women. But during his sixteen-year tenure as club
president, the Giants achieved more success than the club had seen
under any prior regime. In Jazz Age Giant Robert Garratt
brings to life Stoneham's defining years leading the Giants in the
Roaring Twenties. With its layers of mystery and notoriety,
Stoneham's life epitomizes the high life and the changing mores of
American culture during the 1920s, and the importance of sport,
especially baseball, during the pivotal decade.
eBook
The Best Pitcher in Baseball
When Rube Foster was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, his rightful place alongside baseball's greatest black heroes was at last firmly established. A world-class pitcher, a formidable manager, and a brilliant administrator, Rube Foster was arguably more influential in breaking down the color barrier in major league baseball than the venerable Jackie Robinson.
Born in 1879, Rube Foster pitched for the legendary black baseball teamsthe Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants before becoming player-manager of the Leland Giants and the Chicago American Giants. Long a central figure in black baseball, he founded baseball's first black leaguethe Negro National League in 1920. From its inception, the Negro League served as a vehicle through which many of the finest black players could showcase their considerable talents. Challenging racial discrimination and stereotypes, it ultimately set the stage for future efforts to contest Jim Crow.
Despite the long-standing success of the Negro National League as an influential black institution, Rube Foster was deeply embittered by organized baseball's unmitigated refusal to lift the color barrier. He died a broken man in 1930.
The Best Pitcher in Baseball is the story of a man of unparalleled vision and organizational acumen whose passion for justice changed the face of baseball forever. It is a moving tribute to a man and his dream.
eBook