A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball: The Game Behind the Scenes, Volume 2 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781566637053)

The Game Behind the Scenescontinues and concludes Peter Morris's superb encyclopedia of the national pastime. The initial volume, The Game on the Field, was called by Library Journal "charming, densely packed, yet entirely accessible.... This is heaven for fans of the game and a required addition to all baseball collections." Endlessly fascinating, impeccably researched, and engagingly written, this treasure trove will surprise, delight, and educate even the most knowledgeable fan by dispelling cherished myths and revealing the source of many of baseball's features that we now take for granted. Together, both volumes of A Game of Inchescontain nearly a thousand entries that illuminate the origins of items ranging from catchers' masks to hook slides to intentional walks to cork-center baseballs to the reserve clause of baseball's Basic Agreement. The volume on The Game Behind the Scenesconcentrates on ballparks, fans, marketing, statistics, the building of teams, and other related aspects of the game-but this is much more than just a reference guide. Award-winning author Peter Morris explains the context that led each new item to emerge when it did, and chronicles the often surprising responses to these innovations. Of few books can it genuinely be said that once you start reading, it's hard to put it down, but A Game of Inches is one of them. It belongs in the pantheon of great baseball books, and will give any reader a deeper appreciation of why baseball matters so much to Americans.

Praise for Peter Morris's Volume One: The Game on the Field

Author: Peter Morris
ISBN-10: 1566637058
ISBN-13: 9781566637053
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
Language: English
Published: 08/17/2006
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.74lbs
Size: 9.54h x 6.50w x 1.42d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/15/2006 pg. 76