A Noble Game: A History of the Negro Baseball Leagues [Paperback]

Will Pascoe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2006

The Negro Baseball Leagues were one of the first and most successful black businesses in the United States during the first half of the twentieth-century. Combing great athletic skill, shrewd marketing, and a professional spirit that was the equal to its white major-league counterpart, black baseball was so successful in its efforts to show a competitive game to a larger section of America, that ultimately its own success led to its spectacular downfall. When Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s “color wall” in 1947, the game of baseball was changed forever, and for the Negro Baseball Leagues, it was the beginning of the end. A Noble Game looks at the rise and fall of the Negro Baseball Leagues, what they meant to America in an age of segregation, and how their success was a powerful influence during the early days of the American Civil Rights movement. Including interviews with former Negro League stars and exhaustive research, A Noble Game is a rich study of what baseball meant to Americans - both black and white - in the decades before Jackie Robinson changed history. A Noble Game is the little-known story of how the first popular civil rights battle - and victory - occurred not in the courts or in the legislature, but on the baseball diamond.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Will Pascoe is a feature-film and television writer/director based in Toronto Canada. A Noble Game is his first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419645471
• ISBN-13: 978-1419645471
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,975,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for any baseball fan!, October 2, 2006

By 

Baseball Fan1012 "Baseball Fan1012" (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Noble Game: A History of the Negro Baseball Leagues (Paperback)

I was lucky enough to see this year's induction of former Negro baseball league players and owners into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this year. Sadly none of them were still alive, but one guy named Buck O'Neil did a great speech and he actually played in the Negro baseball leagues before Jackie Robinson joined the Major Leagues. O'Neil did a great speech, told some stories and started me on the road to learning more about this forgotten time in baseball history. "A Noble Game" is a really in-depth look at the Negro baseball leagues. It's not so much about the players and their stats - it's more about what life was like for them and the times in which they lived. There is a section on how the black communities supported these teams and their players, and how important these teams and their players were to African-American communities during segregation. I'm a big baseball fan but there was something new for me on almost every page. I had no idea that the Negro baseball leagues were the first to use lights to play night baseall which was crucial for some of the teams to be able to make a profit. Some of the stories in "A Noble Game" showcase a really challenging life on the road for these players and it was heart-breaking to read about the racism they experienced in their careers. Despite such hardships, these baseball players also unknowingly were helping to erode old stereotypes and prejudices towards African-Americans in the eyes of white Americans and it is here where this book really showcases how the Negro baseball leagues were an important part of the battle for civil rights. The book includes interviews with former Negro league players and has an extensive and exhaustive bibliography which just made me want to go out and read more and more about this fascinating (and almost forgotten) part of baseball history and in many ways, American history. A great read and a must for any baseball fan.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, March 2, 2007

By 

MS "MS" (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Noble Game: A History of the Negro Baseball Leagues (Paperback)

I haven't read much on the black baseball leagues. Of course I knew about Jackie Robinson and the anniversary of his becoming the first black player to play in professional baseball made me want to know more about how it happened which lead me to this book. This book was quite the eye opener in terms of learning about what black baseball players went through before integration. The book was also full of a lot of interesting things I was not aware of such as the fact that the All Star Game that we see in baseball every year was based on a black baseball leagues yearly game called the East-West game. In the age of the walk and on base percentage, it was amazing to discover that "small ball" (walks, steals, aggressive baserunning) was originally created in the black baseball leagues. My only gripe was that I wish there was more biographies of various players but the book contains an extensive bibliography and endnotes section which was fascinating in terms of further details but also helped me find more books about these forgotten baseball players.