More than a century has passed since the "glorious Beaneaters" era of Boston's baseball history in the 1890s. While Boston would soon have a second baseball club that would capture the hearts of New England (the Red Sox), never again would there be such dominance over a decade as the Beaneaters accomplished. The team won five pennants in the decade. Nine of these players are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.This book includes biographies of every player to appear wit...

Babe Ruth was 40 and flabby in 1935. His days as a strapping, fearsome home run hitter were behind him. Baseball had flourished into big business through Ruth's swing and swag and didn't need him anymore. His dream was to become a manager but the New York Yankees--a dynasty he helped build--were not interested. But someone wanted him. Judge Emil Fuchs, luckless president of the Boston Braves, had lost a fortune on his perpetually losing team. Desperate to save the club from collapse, he ne...

In 1883, the Philadelphia Athletics were champions of the American Association. Although they are largely-forgotten today, the team epitomized the Beer and Whiskey League. The summer of 1883 had one of the tightest pennant races in baseball history to that point, with the Athletics edging out Chris Von Der Ahe's St. Louis Browns by a single game. The race fueled the popularity of the game of baseball, particularly in Philadelphia and St. Louis. The Athletics were a hard-living team that co...