Auteur: Ryczek William J. Ryczek

This book completes the series of histories of the clubs and players responsible for making baseball the national pastime that began with Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (Mc Farland 2011). Forty clubs …

It was a novel experiment as baseball’s leading men formed the National Association, bringing order to the hodgepodge of professional and amateur clubs that made up the sport from the end of the Civi …

Dick Stuart (1932-2002) began as a minor league first baseman, noted for his outsized ego and terrible fielding. His brash personality and 66 home runs for the Lincoln Chiefs of the Western League ma …

The 1960s were one of the most tumultuous periods in American history. Perceptions of race, gender and age changed dramatically, ripping away beliefs that had endured for generations. Newspapers, the …

This history of America’s pastime describes the evolution of baseball from early bat and ball games to its growth and acceptance in different regions of the country. Such New York clubs as the Atlant …

This is a history of the New York Yankees over a decade which saw them at the top of the American League and at the bottom. Based upon thorough background research and interviews with over 100 former …

This narrative history of minor league football teams in Connecticut in the 1960s and 1970s is based on extensive newspaper and periodical research and interviews with nearly 70 former players, broad …

By 1871, the popularity of baseball had spread so thoroughly across America that one writer observed, "It is as much our national game as cricket is that of the English." While major league …

Major League Baseball was in crisis in 1968. The commissioner was inept, professional football was challenging the sport’s popularity and the game on the field was boring, with pitchers dominating hi …

Before Namath, before the Heidi Game, before the guaranteed Super Bowl victory, there were the New York Titans. Remember the Titans? They played to meager crowds and mediocre results in the decrepit …

This book traces the history of the New York Mets from the franchise’s inauspicious beginnings–the 1962 team, led by Casey Stengel and made up of players like Rod Kanehl and Jay Hook, lost 120 games …

At the end of the 1883 baseball season, things looked rosy–attendance had skyrocketed and the National League and American Association were at peace. A year later, however, the sport was in total di …