Willie Mays, Frank Frisch, Jo DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Lou Boudreau, Ted Williams, Jim Konstanty, Yogi Berra, Ernie Banks, Mickey Mantle, Maury Wills, Ken Boyer, Zolio Versalles.

The Players League, formed in 1890, was a short-lived professional baseball league controlled and owned in part by the players themselves, a response to the National League’s salary cap and “reserve rule,” which bound players for life to one particular team. Led by John Montgomery Ward, the Players League was a star-studded group that included most of the best players of the National League, who bolted not only to gain control of their wages but also to share ownership of the teams. Lasting only a year, the league impacted both the professional sports and the labor politics of athletes and nonathletes alike. The Great Baseball Revolt is a historic overview of the rise and fall of the Players League, which fielded teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Though it marketed itself as a working-class league, the players were underfunded and had to turn to wealthy capitalists for much of their startup costs, including the new ballparks. It was in this context that the league intersected with the organized labor movement, and in many ways challenged by organized labor to be by and for the people. In its only season, the Players League outdrew the National League in fan attendance. But when the National League overinflated its numbers and profits, the Players League backers pulled out. The Great Baseball Revolt brings to life a compelling cast of characters and a mostly forgotten but important time in professional sports when labor politics affected both athletes and nonathletes. Purchase the audio edition.

Brief biographies of the five baseball players who won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1974, 1975, and 1976. Includes are Jeff Burroughs, Fred Lynn, Thurman Munson, Steve Garvey, and Joe Morgan.

From its colorful beginnings more than a century ago, baseball's annual Most Valuable Player Award has become the most prestigious (and contentious) individual honor in the sport. No accolade means more to players, fans or the media. No other award can claim a voting history so rich in alleged snubs, grudges, conspiracies and incompetence. Examining the most controversial ballots, this book attempts to settle some arguments and answer some compelling questions: Which of the so-called "worst MVPs" holds up to modern statistical analysis? Who cast the single worst vote in MVP history? Does racial bias influence the vote? Who really deserved the award in a given year?

Presents the events of baseball in the 1950s and 1960s from the perspectives of the players, covering such subjects as the careers of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider.

Joe DiMaggio captured the1941 American League MVP Award after his 56-game hitting streak made headlines much of the summer. Ted Williams, despite his .401 batting average, finished second. In 1998, Sammy Sosa beat out Mark McGwire for the National League's award despite McGwire's record-setting 70 home runs that season. On a handful of occasions, the voters gave the hardware to a pitcher, though pitchers have their own version of the MVP in the Cy Young Award. The bestowing of the MVP award is one of the most anticipated announcements in major league baseball. Yet much controversy also shrouds this coveted title. What athletic characteristics, feats, records and statistics distinguish a player as an MVP award winner? How many players are in the running, and how is it decided which player will receive the distinction? This biographical dictionary profiles every MVP ballplayer from 1931 to 2001, providing detailed statistics, personal background and career highlights. A summary of each general baseball season for both leagues is provided, and the other top four contenders for MVP that year are also listed with the number of votes each player received.

In celebration of the 100th issue of Who’s Who in Baseball—one of the game’s most venerable publications—comes a century's worth of the annual's iconic covers, insightful breakdowns of the players featured on those covers, and informative accounts of the baseball history tied to each year’s issue. 100 Years of Who’s Who in Baseball is a colorful, must-have book of baseball nostalgia for fans of the American Pastime. The start of the baseball season brings with it a host of annual traditions and reminders, and one of the most beloved—the annual Who’s Who in Baseball—arrives on newsstands across the country every Spring Training. The 2015 season marks 100 years of Who’s Who delivering year-by-year stats to generations of baseball fans to quickly and easily track a player’s performance from the minors to the majors. And while Who’s Who is trusted as an authoritative source of baseball statistics and has been used by generations of club executives, broadcasters, journalists, and fans—it’s the publication’s cover subject that each year generates as much hot-stove speculation and buzz as off-season rumors of trades, firings, and pitching rotations. In partnership with Who’s Who in Baseball, this celebratory book features each of the annual's 100 iconic covers in full color along with an account of why the player rated the cover and what was going on in baseball at the time. From baseball’s deadball era to the dawn of “replay review,” this collection offers a gorgeously illustrated history of the game.