Description
Book SynopsisWith its account of great players, notable characters, and the changing fortunes of teams over the years, the book supplies a vital chapter in the history of Major League Baseball.
Trade Review“The expansion of baseball—with a wrong turn here and there—raised the prosperity and popularity of the industry to record heights, and Fran Zimniuch captures it all in this comprehensive book. Can Tokyo, Havana, or Mexico City be next?”—Ross Newhan, recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000
“The expansion of baseball has been a barometer of the sport’s cultural impact. Fran Zimniuch provides his readers with an understanding of the circumstances affecting baseball’s growth. He relates how the game’s expansion impacted its popularity and influence. Once this dispersal was accepted, baseball evolved into a truly national sport.”—Jerrold Casway, baseball historian and author of
Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball“Fran Zimniuch is a wonderful baseball historian. This account of the expansion of Major League Baseball over the years will be of interest to all baseball fans.”—Mike Schmidt, Hall of Fame third baseman who hit 548 home runs during his eighteen-year career with the Philadelphia Phillies
"[
Baseball's New Frontier] serves its purpose well. . . . From the Angels having just eight days (!) to stock their team, to the Mets and Astros getting a siginificantly less talented and promising pool from which to draw, to the huge franchise fees collected from the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays in 1998, viewing those waves in one narrative gives an interesting refection of each era and just how much that side of the game has changed, and how expansion both caused and reflected."—Jerry Milani,
Going 9 BaseballTable of ContentsForeword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Go West Young Men
2. The Continental League
3. The First Expansion--1961: The Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators
4. The First Expansion Part Deux--1962: The Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets
5. The Second Wave--1969: The Kansas City Royals, Seattle Pilots, San Diego Padres, and Montreal Expos
6. The Pendulum of Power Swings to the Players
7. North by Northwest--1977: The Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners
8. Thin Air and Immediate Success--1993: The Colorado Rockies and the Florida Marlins
9. Baseball's Final Expansion?--1998: The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
10. Expanding on Expansion
11. Bottom Feeding: Taking Advantage of the New Kids in Town
12. The Characters of Expansion Who Have Brightened the Game
13. Baseball's Brave New World: Where We've Been and What the Future Holds
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