Baseball

A History of America's GameFifth Edition

Author: Benjamin G. Rader
Three true outcomes, Statcast, and pace-of-play—all in a new edition of the definitive text
Cloth – $125
978-0-252-04670-4
Paper – $24.95
978-0-252-08880-3
eBook – $14.95
978-0-252-04810-4
Publication Date
Paperback: 04/08/2025
Cloth: 04/08/2025
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About the Book

Analytics, technology, and the most ambitious rewrite of the rulebook in fifty years have reshaped baseball. Benjamin G. Rader’s account of the American pastime moves from diamonds scratched out of commons and corn fields to the multimedia theme parks doubling as today’s baseball stadiums. The fifth edition follows the long arc of the game’s history into the third decade of the twenty-first century, an era rich in innovation but even richer from revenue streams undreamt-of by the plutocrats of old. Rader brings readers up to date with looks at the Astros cheating scandal, on-the-field changes from power pitchers to ghost runners, data-driven player development and career rebirth, and the one-of-a-kind Shohei Ohtani.

Engrossing and complete, Baseball, Fifth Edition, offers a comprehensive tour of the game and its place within American society and culture.

About the Author

Benjamin G. Rader is the James L. Sellers Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and the coauthor of American Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports, Seventh Edition.

Reviews


Blurbs

“The best single-volume history of the sport. Tackles the business and organizational evolution of the professional game, while not losing sight of how it was played on the field.”--Washington Post Book World

Baseball reflects Rader's firm grasp of the best and latest scholarship and his insightful understanding of American sport history.”--Sporting News