DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Baseball on the Brink

The Crisis of 1968

William J Ryczek author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc

Published:20th Nov '17

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Baseball on the Brink cover

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 hitters in a succession of dull, low-scoring games. The major league expanded for the 1969 season but the muddled process by which new franchises were selected highlighted the ineffective management of the sport.

This book describes how baseball reached its nadir in the late 1960s and how it survived and began its slow comeback. The lack of offense in the game is examined, taking in the great pitching performances of Denny McLain, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale and others. Colorful characters like Charley Finley and Ken Harrelson are covered, along with the effects that dramatic changes in American society and the war in Vietnam had on the game.

ISBN: 9781476668482

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 13mm

Weight: 336g

255 pages