A fascinating look back on baseball's humble beginnings and its transformation into the national pastime, told through the lives of two men who dominated the game. The nineteenth century was a time of rapid growth and development for the game of "base ball," and players George Wright and Albert Spalding were right in the thick of it. These two young men, the first superstars of the professional game, won the hearts of a country in search of a unifying spirit after a devastating civil war. Selling Baseball: How Superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding Impacted Sports in America breathes fresh energy into baseball's origin story with this captivating tale of two vibrant personalities whose rivalry cum friendship was integral to the rise of the professional game. While they came from starkly different backgrounds-Albert Spalding was a young, gangly pitcher from the country's heartland and George Wright was the consummate athlete from New York City-their captivating performances on the field and promotion of the game and sports equipment off it fed the public's insatiable appetite for leisure-time pursuits and helped grow professional baseball to unprecedented heights. George Wright and Albert Spalding's stories are masterfully woven together to paint a sweeping picture of the early days of professional baseball, the evolution of sports as a business, and the advancement of sports equipment and the sporting goods industry. Their rise as players and businessmen mirrored the rise of a nation that would lead the world in the coming century.
Jeffrey Orens is the author of The Soul of Genius: Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and the Meeting that Changed the Course of Science which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Science, and other outlets, including a starred Booklist review. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and his work appears regularly in History Magazine, True West Magazine, and other publications.
In Selling Baseball, Jeffrey Orens provides his readers with a new perspective of the sport and the sports equipment industry through the long overlooked relationship between Albert Goodwill Spalding and George Wright. The more than fifty-year friendship of these two on-the-field stars, Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, and sports equipment pioneers, transcended competition and launched baseball and other athletics to the status that we take for granted today. Thought provoking, instructive, and enjoyable-a must read. -- Peter Mancuso, co-chair, Nineteenth Century Research Committee, Society for American Baseball Research
