As the Civil War ended, the thoughts of many Northern soldiers turned to a game that some had learned about for the first time during the war-baseball. Researched from primary sources, the game of the late 1860s is described season-by-season: the fields, the crowds, the strategy, the rules, the style of play, and the confusing struggles to crown a national champion, with all the chicanery and machinations of the contenders. Such landmark events as the Washington Nationals' pioneering 1867 tour and the Cincinnati Red Stockings' undefeated 1869 season are covered.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Ryczek tells his story interestingly and documents it well" -- Choice
"a 'must read' for everyone who hopes to understand the transformation of top-rank baseball from amateur obsession to professional sport, and a 'must own' for everyone researching the game's early history and development.With over a thousand citations to contemporary sources Ryczek's new book is far and away the most deeply researched account of the game's immediate post-Civil War years. ...not only a crucial text for students of early baseball, but one of the best books of baseball history written to date" -- Nineteenth Century Notes
"a year-by-year recount of the many events spurring the expansion of the national pastime" -- USA Today Baseball Weekly
"a 'must read' for everyone who hopes to understand the transformation of top-rank baseball from amateur obsession to professional sport, and a 'must own' for everyone researching the game's early history and development.With over a thousand citations to contemporary sources Ryczek's new book is far and away the most deeply researched account of the game's immediate post-Civil War years. ...not only a crucial text for students of early baseball, but one of the best books of baseball history written to date" -- Nineteenth Century Notes
"a year-by-year recount of the many events spurring the expansion of the national pastime" -- USA Today Baseball Weekly
About the Author
William J. Ryczek, a banking executive from Wallingford, Connecticut, also wrote Blackguards and Red Stockings (McFarland, 1992), a winner of the 1993 SABR/Macmillan award for best baseball history.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The first extended treatment of an important era.,
By A Customer
This review is from: When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 (Hardcover)
With insight, clarity and wit, Ryczek surveys a neglected era of early baseball history, and shows how baseball at its highest levels was transformed from a reasonably polite pastime for amateurs into a rowdy sport dominated by professionals. This first book-length treatment of baseball's post-Civil War era is a must read for anyone who would understand the origins of the professional game.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent detailed account of baseball's early beginings.,
By A Customer
This review is from: When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 (Hardcover)
This book is a thoroughly researched account of the early days of baseball. Mr. Ryczek dutifully illustrates the exciting and often times painful transition of the sport from a loosely organized amateur pastime to an openly professional enterprise.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An essential work,
By
This review is from: When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 (Paperback)
Ryczek's first work, Blackguards and Red Stockings, was a very strong effort but he outdid himself with this one. His research into baseball during the post-Civil War years is excellent and he tells this fascinating story well. Ryczek's focus is on east coast baseball and this book should be read in concert with more recent ones that have dealt with other regions. But that is by no means a criticism of this excellent work, which ought to be in the library of anyone with a serious interest in nineteenth-century baseball.
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