{"product_id":"the-gilt-edge-of-ambition-lisa-jonsson-9798994842607","title":"The Gilt Edge of Ambition: A Sportsman's Gamble for Power and Baseball","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA gripping story of ambition, vice, and the birth of professional baseball in California.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the closing years of the nineteenth century, Sacramento was a city of gaslight and grit-its streets lined with gambling halls, saloons, and the restless energy of a place still inventing itself. At the center of it stood Ed Kripp: gambler, promoter, and architect of one of California's earliest baseball dynasties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Gilt Edge of Ambition follows Kripp's rise as he led his club to an unprecedented run of pennants and built Buffalo Park; navigating a world where deals were struck in back rooms and fortunes turned overnight. Baseball, in this moment, was not yet a settled institution-it was spectacle, business, and risk, all at once.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the twentieth century approached and the glow of gas lamps gave way to a more ordered age, the game-and the city-began to change. Informal power gave way to structure, and the chaotic world that had made Kripp possible slowly receded.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on extensive archival research, Lisa Jonsson brings to life a forgotten era when ambition was raw, the rules were unwritten, and modern California was just beginning to take shape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on more than five hundred primary sources, this narrative brings a lost chapter of California history vividly to life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lisa Jonsson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798994842607\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Solvent Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/07\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 322\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.32lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.88d","brand":"Lisa Jonsson","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48623669936383,"sku":"9798994842607","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-gilt-edge-of-ambition-lisa-jonsson-9798994842607","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}