Baseball Revolutionaries

Book excerpt: Celebrate the 150th anniversary of professional baseball with the amazing 1869 Red Stockings, the team that made baseball famous. Led by two giants of the game, brothers Harry and George Wright, and backed by a city crazy about its baseball, the Red Stockings win every game, play on both coasts, and revolutionize a sport that was only beginning to establish itself as the National Pastime. Follow the story of how a second-class amateur team from Cincinnati, isolated from the baseball hotbeds of the East, became the first openly professional team, dominated its more established competition, and became the first sports team in America to receive national acclaim. Meet the players and civic leaders behind the Red Stockings revolution, relive their key games, and experience life and travel in 1869. Then learn about the team's shocking demise after the 1870 season. The Red Stockings paved the way for the major league baseball of today, and this is the most complete look at their story.