Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era (Sport and Society) [Hardcover]

Steven A. Riess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 1999 | Series: Sport and Society

Riess' "Touching Base" is now revised and expanded. "Touching Base" examines the myths as well as the realities, symbols, and rituals of "America's favourite pastime". Steven Riess details the relationships among urban politics, communities, and baseball, exploring how debates over issues, such as Sunday games, ballpark construction, and the promotion of the game were shaped by Progressive Era sensibilities. Focusing on Atlanta, New York, and Chicago, Riess analyzes the spectators, owners, and players to evaluate how baseball both influenced and mirrored broader society.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Riess asks and answers fundamentally important questions about urban America as well as baseball in the early twentieth century... Touching Base, the most ambitious and exhaustive case study of urban professional baseball yet written, clearly demonstrates not only the vast potential for understanding American history through baseball, but also the value of utilizing sociological theory and municipal archives in researching baseball history."-Larry Gerlach, Journal of Sports History "This study is one of the most important to appear in sports history. It is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand the history of baseball and its relationship to the larger American society. This volume takes an enormous stride beyond the usual historical treatments of baseball with their emphasis on exploits on the field and heroes of the diamond as Riess asks and seeks to answer fundamental questions about American culture and its development in the twentieth century." - Roger D. Launius, Journal of Illinois HistoryADVANCE PRAISE "Well-received in many quarters in its original version, Touching Base provides a massive fund of information extremely valuable to any baseball scholar. The bibliography and the opening essay on the state of baseball history alone justify this revised version."-Richard C. Crepeau, author of Baseball: America's Diamond Mine, 1919-1941 "Touching Base not only tells the story of baseball in its formative period; it explains how the game fit into a much larger pattern of social and cultural development. The original edition of Touching Base was an important work of sport history, and the new revised edition adds even more to our knowledge of how and why baseball became our national pastime. This is fine history."-Elliott J. Gorn, author of The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America

From the Publisher

Well documented and recommended as a rich resource for the sport historian, sport social scientist, and baseball enthusiast who wishes to delve into the role of sport in the sociocultural development of the U.S. For academic and public library collections. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; Rev Sub edition (July 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252024672
• ISBN-13: 978-0252024672
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,366,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read on the Development of Professional Baseball, December 20, 2003

By 

Roger D. Launius "Historian" (Washington, D.C., United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era (Sport and Society) (Paperback)

A revised edition of a very successful 1983 work, "Touching Base" remains a standard work on the development of professional baseball in the first three decades of the twentieth century. The author and publisher should be commended for making this revision available in an inexpensive paperback edition.

In this work Steven Riess, on the faculty of Northwestern University, explores the history of baseball--truly the national pastime in this era--as it became in the first part of the twentieth century the preeminent sporting activity in the United States. He notes that there are many myths about this sport that have informed our perspective on the rise of the sport, and seeks to explore how these arose and explodes or revises many of them.

Beginning with an excellent historiographical essay on the study of baseball history, much updated since the 1983 edition, Riess places the sport's history in the larger context of cultural studies in the United States and charts a course for its study as a significant factor during the Progressive era. He then moves on to explore the unique relationship between baseball and the fan, and the sport's relationship to deeply felt societal needs within the United States.

Thereafter Riess considers the relationships between professional baseball and urban politicos and the larger communities that they were a part of. This discussion revolves around several of the key questions that arose in the Progressive era. These include the siting and construction of baseball parks and the role of the public/private partnership in bringing them to fruition; the propriety of playing baseball games on Sundays and the repeal of "Blue Laws"; and the manner in which the game was promoted to the public by both the owners and the leaders of the larger community.

In each case, Riess focuses on examples drawn from Atlanta, New York, and Chicago. Certainly New York and Chicago are the two most significant major league cities of the era, although it would have been interesting to have seen more examples from places like Boston, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, each of which had two teams. Atlanta has an important place in this study because of its central role in minor league baseball with the legendary "Crackers." Again, additional experiences drawn from other stellar minor league cities of the Progressive era, such as those in the Pacific Coast League, would have broadened the study.

These are minor objections to be sure; this study is one of the most important ever to appear in sports history. It is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand the history of baseball and its relationship to larger American society. As such, it has taken an enormous stride beyond the usual historical treatments of baseball with their emphasis on exploits on the field and heroes of the diamond to ask and seek to answer fundamental questions about America culture and its development in the twentieth century.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great historical perspective on baseball in America, April 22, 2000

By 

Gail Perry (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era (Sport and Society) (Paperback)

Touching Base is a well-researched account of the sport of baseball during its formative years. This book explains how and why baseball became our favorite pastime and how the sport paralleled the life and challenges of the American people during the first of the twentieth century. Great comparisons between the myths and the realities of the game.