{"product_id":"the-best-team-over-there-9781496217165","title":"The Best Team Over There","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFinalist for the 2022 SABR Seymour Medal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Grover Cleveland Alexander was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, with 373 career victories during twenty seasons in the Major Leagues. Elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938, the right-hander remains a compelling—and tragic—figure. “Pete” Alexander’s military service during World War I was the demarcation line between his great seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and his years of struggle and turmoil with the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals after the Great War. Indeed, Alexander’s service during World War I has all but been forgotten, even though it dramatically changed his life—and his game.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Alexander served in the 342nd Field Artillery Regiment, which included big leaguers and star athletes among its officers and men. Naturally, the regiment fielded an outstanding baseball team, but it also faced hard service during the final weeks of\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Leeke's book is well worth reading for anyone seeking to learn about Alexander's war experience.\"—Dave Bohmer, \u003ci\u003eNINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This is a fascinating book that delves into a consequential but often overlooked time in Alexander's life.\"—Dave Lande, \u003ci\u003eInside Game\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Using letters written by Alexander and his army cohorts and other primary and secondary sources, Leeke does a deft job of taking us through the pre- and post-war lives and war careers of a handful of gifted athletes. It is a tale of patriotism, human limitations, and partial redemption told by a skilled storyteller.\"—Dave Page, \u003ci\u003eJournal of America's Military Past\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In drilling down on one group of field artillery and one star player who was part of it, the effort reads like a sequel to the author's \u003ci\u003eFrom the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War\u003c\/i\u003e (2017), which takes a broader view of the relationship between the game and the conflict. Sports history and military history, of course, are different entities with different intents and strategies, but Leeke weaves them together seamlessly in this new effort, further contextualizing one of the game's great players and the meaning of World War I to those back home in Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.\"—Thomas Aiello, \u003ci\u003eMissouri Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Leeke's writing is straightforward and clear, and his narrative is entertaining. \u003ci\u003eThe Best Team Over There\u003c\/i\u003e is a fine work of sports and military history.\"—Bob D’Angelo, \u003ci\u003eSports Bookie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Highly recommended to anyone interested in baseball and the Great War.\"—Peter L. Belmonte, \u003ci\u003eRoads to the Great War\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Jim Leeke hits it out of the park again with the tale of Grover Cleveland Alexander, a Great War ballplayer who tasted the highs of fame, lows of the trenches, and—tragically—just too much booze.”—Dean Karayanis, radio host of the \u003ci\u003eHistory Author Show\u003c\/i\u003e in New York City\u003cbr\u003e“Coming off his award-winning \u003ci\u003eFrom the Dugouts to the Trenches\u003c\/i\u003e, Jim Leeke follows up with the extraordinary story of the Great War, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and ballplayers who became artillerymen. It’s a perfect mix of military history and baseball that will completely absorb you.”—Jan Finkel, 2012 recipient of SABR’s Bob Davids Award\u003cbr\u003e“No one writes about the connections between baseball and World War I with more authority and accuracy than Jim Leeke. Now he places Grover Cleveland Alexander under his microscope, following Old Pete from call to service through training to the front lines of a horrific war. The result is a story that will swell you with pride and reduce you to tears.”—Rick Huhn, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Chalmers Race: Ty Cobb, Napoleon Lajoie, and the Controversial 1910 Batting Title That Became a National Obsession\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePrologue\u003cbr\u003e 1. Alexander the Great\u003cbr\u003e 2. Laddies from Missouri\u003cbr\u003e 3. Gridiron\u003cbr\u003e 4. Chicago\u003cbr\u003e 5. Fast Nine\u003cbr\u003e 6. Through a Door\u003cbr\u003e 7. Camp Funston\u003cbr\u003e 8. Camp Mills\u003cbr\u003e 9. \u003ci\u003eJusticia\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 10. Camp de Souge\u003cbr\u003e 11. Pauillac\u003cbr\u003e 12. St. Mihiel\u003cbr\u003e 13. Euvezin\u003cbr\u003e 14. Armistice\u003cbr\u003e 15. The March\u003cbr\u003e 16. Occupied Germany\u003cbr\u003e 17. Safe at Home\u003cbr\u003e 18. Postwar\u003cbr\u003e 19. The Long, Long Trail\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Appendix A: Selected Athletes of the 342nd Field Artillery\u003cbr\u003e Appendix B: Composition of the 164th Field Artillery Brigade\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409228538199,"sku":"9781496217165","price":22.79,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496217165.jpg?v=1730506045","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-best-team-over-there-9781496217165","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}