If Baseball Integrated Early - ready as eBook

[DTF955]

Though there could, of course, be an update after the 2010 season, "If Baseball Integrated Early" can be pronounced comlpete. Readers can deduce what would have happened next. While a few little changes might be made in a few pennant winners later, in another edition, this book is 99.9% cmoplete, and reading for reading.

Unfortuntely, I'm not even computer savvy (or rich?) enough to have my own site where you can pay as you download, so please e-mail baseballwhatifs(at)aol.com and order "If Baseball Integrated Early." It's 196 pages, and promises to be a fun glimpse into an alternate - and much more pleasing - universe, where baseball is integrated from the start. There are pitfalls and obstacles at first, and as society slowly changes, there would be problems. But, they would be much fewer, much less intense, and much shorter in duration, with full integration complete after World War Two. These changes lead, indirectly, to a baseball that is more expansive - though sometimes biting off more than it can chew. You can pay me via paypal, or I can e-mail you my address and you can send a check, though PayPal's probably the easiest for all, I'm sure.

Individual players are considered, too - someone else can deduce the career totals for most,. There's a glimpse of the lives of some outside baseball. too, such as one man (Sol White) in the Hall in OTL as a manager, who is in the sportwriter's wing (and a well-respected journalist outside sports, too) in the IBIE universe.

And, a little more to whet your appetite - the table of contents, and the introduction. Happy reading:



Table of Contents



Introduction – Setting the Table

Section One – The 19th Century

Part One - In the Big Inning

Interlude 1: 1874 – The Spanish American War of 1874

Part Two – A Piece of the Action

Interlude 2: A Clash of Titans – the 1878 Playoffs:

Part Three – Baseball’s First Expansion Era

The 1880s

Interlude 3: Securing the Position

The 1890s

Frank Grant, Baseball’s First Black Star



Section Two – The Modern Era

Part One – The Deadball Era, 1900-1919

Interlude 4: The 1908 gGambling Scandal and Aftermath

Interlude 5: Integration Elsewhere

Part Two – The Best of Times, the Worst of Times, 1920-1939:

Interlude 6: The Babe Ruth Deal and Baseball’s Compromise of 1920

Part Three – The In-Between Years – 1940-1949

Interlude 7: The Baseball-PCL Negotiations, and the Big Move

Part Four – Golden Age; Growing and Moving – 1950-1971

Interlude 8: Effects on the NFL

Part Five - Free Agency and Parity – 1972-1993

Part Six – Trying to Stay Afloat – 1994-present




Introduction – Setting the Table:

Baseball, the Fountain of Youth that Ponce De Leon sought long ago. Men playing a boy’s game, trying to attain their childhood dreams of stardom. Whether in city parks or crowded stadiums, there is a youthful exuberance. It invites teamwork, and co-operation, as many times the object is to drive in another batter, or allow oneself to be driven home. And yet, it can also glorify the dramatic individual accomplishment.

With this book, you will enter a different world. It is one without over half a century of segregation in baseball. It is one where a less hostile atmosphere after the Civil War allowed certain things to be possible that wouldn’t otherwise be. And, it is a world in which one John Benton set in motion the things which allowed great black ballplayers to make the major leagues.

Who is John Benton? He is Everyman, in a way, one of hundreds of thousands who survive in this alternate Civil War. He may have been from Maine or California, or anywhere in between. He may have been born in 1840 to 1845. The point is that he survived and made a difference. It’s the difference many of us would make if we could. He could play baseball with the best in the 1870s. Rather than going to his eternal reward in one of many battles, he emerged to ensure that baseball was integrated.

This is not to say whether or not those who did live could have done it. A POD where Monte Ward, John McGraw, or someone else prevails in signing the best players, regardless of race, could be used. So, too, could one where Cap Anson has a massive change of heart. Whether such a POD is plausible, and how, is for others to debate.

In this world, John Benton had that courage. What you are about to read is the main differences, and some similarities, in a history of baseball that might have been had the game been integrated from the start. The original POD, of course, would have an impact on society, too, and that will be touched upon.

The first few decades will read more like a series of short stories, for two reasons. First, the stage needs to be set. Second, most fans are more familiar with the “modern era,” post-1900, anyway. So, the first few parts will involve the setup, while each season from 1901 onward will get some coverage, with what I hope is an enjoyable format. Short news clips, summaries of special seasons or World Series, discussion of important players’ careers, and so on will be included for each year. Interludes will cover what goes on in the outside world.

However, what we are most concerned about is that one phrase – If Baseball Integrated Early.

[DTF955]

It's now at lulu.com; yes, that's in my signature, but I wanted to put a blurb here, too, about all my books. Especially becuase if someone tried to e-mail me, they couldn't for a while, as my computer was out of order.

Thanks for understanding.

My latest book is "If Baseball Integrated Early," and it's available at http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=53590504 Part one is a series of short stories designed to introduce John Benton and others. Benton is a great player who would have died in his late teens/early 20s, had the Union not won at Chancellorsville, ending the Civil War 18 months early in this Alternate History. Benton is greatly involved in ensuring that the major leagues stay integrated in the 1870s and 1880s. It's a sure thing by the 1890s, and by 1901, the new A.L. allows integration.

Part 2 goes season by season, from 1901 to the present, with mentions of who played in and won the World Series, together with blurbs about famous moments, players, pennant races, and some off the field stuff. Some of the off the field stuff is in blurbs during the season - such as one discussing Sol White's great journalistic career, or Satchel Paige and Dizzy Dean on Vaudeville together. Some is in interludes, such as one where a brief history of race relations in the 20th century is given, with a focus on the changes wrought by Oscar Underwood as President. There's an interlude of half a dozen pages or so of effects on the NFL, too - yes, Cleveland gets a Super Bowl! It's all because a law passed in the early '60s bars Al Davis and others from moving willy-nilly, and he sells his clubs and invest heavily in the USFL in 1983. The NFL eventually expands faster than in our timeline.

Overall, this was a very fun project of over 190 pages, that I think any baseball fan will love. Please, buy some, and tell others, even if you don't have me on your show.

Also available on my site at lulu.com is a childrens' chapter book titled "This Little Light," a story about friendship, involving a handicapped child and a fun baseball game, with a number of fond memories from my grade school days, though the boy in the story has cerebral palsy, and my main handicap is choroid coloboma, an eye condition which likely comes from a bit of dandy-Walker Syndrome I have. It's 52 pages, and has fun baseball stuff.

I also have a book up at iunvierse.com called "Never Let Me Go," one about the trials and tribulations of a group of seniors in high school, and the decisions they make. It'd make a great (albeit late now :-) graduation gift. It's at http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/B...0let%20me%20go