William J Ryczek: 4 books
Baseball on the Brink
The Crisis of 1968
Language: English
Release Date: October 11, 2017
Major League Baseball was in crisis in 1968. The commissioner was inept, professional football was challenging the sport’s popularity and the game on the field was boring, with pitchers dominating hitters in a succession of dull, low-scoring games. The major league expanded for the 1969 season but...
Blackguards and Red Stockings
A History of Baseball's National Association, 1871-1875, Revised Edition
Language: English
Release Date: March 11, 2016
It was a novel experiment as baseball’s leading men formed the National Association, bringing order to the hodgepodge of professional and amateur clubs that made up the sport from the end of the Civil War through 1870. It was an imperfect beginning to organized professional sports in America—the...
Baseball's First Inning
A History of the National Pastime Through the Civil War
Language: English
Release Date: November 29, 2014
This history of America’s pastime describes the evolution of baseball from early bat and ball games to its growth and acceptance in different regions of the country. Such New York clubs as the Atlantics, Excelsiors and Mutuals are a primary focus, serving as examples of how the sport became more...
Connecticut Gridiron
Football Minor Leaguers of the 1960s and 1970s
Language: English
Release Date: October 21, 2014
This narrative history of minor league football teams in Connecticut in the 1960s and 1970s is based on extensive newspaper and periodical research and interviews with nearly 70 former players, broadcasters and journalists. Only a few players—like Marv Hubbard, Lou Piccone and Bob Tucker—made...