Dubbed America's Game by Walt Whitman, baseball has been enjoyed in our nation's capital by young boys playing street stickball and Presidents throwing each season's inaugural pitch. Just 13 years after Alexander Cartwright codified baseball's rules, the Washington Nationals Baseball Club formed and in 1867 toured the country spreading the baseball gospel. By 1901 the team became one of the first eight major league teams in the newly formed American League. Players such as Walter Johnson, probably the greatest pitcher of ...
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Dubbed America's Game by Walt Whitman, baseball has been enjoyed in our nation's capital by young boys playing street stickball and Presidents throwing each season's inaugural pitch. Just 13 years after Alexander Cartwright codified baseball's rules, the Washington Nationals Baseball Club formed and in 1867 toured the country spreading the baseball gospel. By 1901 the team became one of the first eight major league teams in the newly formed American League. Players such as Walter Johnson, probably the greatest pitcher of all time, and other Senators under the stewardship of owner Clark Griffith successfully led the club in 1924 to what many consider to be the most exciting World Series in baseball history. Later, the Homestead Grays played at Griffith Stadium and fielded a team featuring legendary Negro League greats such as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard. The powerhouse Grays, during a ten-year span, won nine Negro League World Championships, a record that may never be equaled in any team sport again. When the Grays disbanded, the original Senators left for Minnesota in 1960, and the expansion Senators of the 1960s relocated, the city was left without a professional baseball team. While many feared that baseball in D.C. was over, a spirit remained on the diamond and is still felt today as children and adults team up in one way or another to play the national pastime in the nation's capital. Hopes for a new professional team linger, and those remembering baseball's heyday will enjoy this extensive and unusual collection of historic photos that celebrate a time when the crowds roared and Washingtonians believed that the summer game would never end.
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Add this copy of Baseball in Washington, D.C. (Dc) (Images of America) to cart. $2.08, very good condition, Sold by The Maryland Book Bank rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from baltimore, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Arcadia Publishing (SC).
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When Washington, D.C. acquired the Washington Nationals prior to the 2005 season, the nation's capital had been without major league baseball for 33 years. Written in 2002 while the city remained without baseball, "Baseball in Washington, D.C." captures the city's relationship with baseball over the prior century. The book is written by sports writers Frank Ceresi and Mark Rucker with the assistance of researcher Carol McMains. It is a photographic history in the "Images of America" series and, as the authors point out, is not intended as a definitive history of Washington D.C. baseball.
The book is enjoyable and nostalgic as it takes the reader through a guided tour of baseball in Washington D.C. It begins with a chapter describing Washington's early baseball teams from 1850 -- 1900, focusing on -- no surprise here -- a team called the Washington Nationals. The discussion features photographs of forgotten players, stadiums, and baseball memorabilia with a good running commentary.
The Nationals were not asked to join the National League upon its formation in 1900. In fact, the League bought the team only to disband it. When the American League was formed the following year, Washington D.C. began its long relationship with the Washington Senators. The original Washington Senators team receives most of the attention in this book, especially in the team's best years before 1930. The Senators won their only World Series in 1924, while winning American League Pennants in 1925 and 1933. The book focuses on many of the players of the early years, while concentrating on "The Big Train", Walter Johnson, who won 416 games in his career, spent entirely with the Senators, for clubs that often were mediocre. The book also show many photographs of other players, well known and obscure from the early years of the team.
Subsequent chapters describe the falling fortunes of the Senators during the 1930's and 1940's. The book also gives substantial attention to the Homestead Grays of the Negro League. The authors state that the Grays "may well have been the greatest professional ball club ever assembled" and their account of the team focuses on catcher Josh Gibson, who may well have been "the greatest power hitter of all time." The book offers photographs of many players of the Senators and the Grays and documents their changing fortunes through the 1940s.
By the 1950's the Negro League was no more and the Senators went into a long decline. They left Washington, D.C. in 1961. The book offers a good portrayal of the teams last decade, focusing on stars such as slugger Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Vernon and pitcher Camillo Pascual.
From 1961 -- 1971, Washington had a second Senators team before it also left the city for Texas. Baseball wise, these were lean years, although Ted Williams briefly managed the team near the end. The team still had some high marks, including Frank Howard, and the durable pitcher, Dick Bosnan. A final chapter in the book shows political involvement in baseball over the years while also suggesting the strong presence of the game at the school and amateur levels.
The resumption of baseball with the Nationals is beyond the scope of this book, but it gives a good, enjoyable earlier history. The book will be of interest to readers with an interest in Washington D.C. local history and in the history of its professional baseball teams.
