George B. Kirsch

What role did team sports play in the social and urban history of mid-nineteenth-century America? And why did Americans choose baseball over its early rival, cricket, as the national pastime? George Kirsch takes us back to the amateur playing fields to observe the players, the clubs, and their fans from 1838 to 1872. Drawing upon contemporary sporting sheets and newspaper accounts, Kirsch re-creates the excitement of early baseball and cricket matches. He discusses the competition between the two sports to determine which would become the favored game in America. He also examines the experiences of the artisans, factory workers, shopkeepers, clerks, managers, and professionals who played ball either informally or on organized teams. "The Creation of American Team Sports" is a comprehensive narrative history that places the growing popularity of baseball and cricket within the social context of mid-nineteenth-century American cities. -- From publisher's description.

Baseball and Cricket, 1838-72

The Creation of American Team Sports

Larry K. Menna

Sports in North America: Sports, prosperity, conformity, cultural stirrings, 1950-1960

Othello Harris

Claire Elaine Nolte

Professor Claire E Nolte

Traces the development of athletics in the United States by examining the sporting experience of Native Americans, African Americans and the immigrant groups of the United States from Colonial times to the present.

Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States

An inclusive narrative of golf's history and popularity in the United States

George B. Kirsch

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