Silver bats and automobiles : the hotly competitive, sometimes ignoble pursuit of the major league batting championship
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Bibliographic Information
Silver bats and automobiles : the hotly competitive, sometimes ignoble pursuit of the major league batting championship
McFarland, c2011
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-208) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Almost from professional baseball's birth more than 130 years ago, the batting championship has been one of the sport's most highly coveted awards. Since 1949, the Louisville Slugger company has presented the man with the highest batting average at season's end with the Silver Bat Award, a regulation-sized metal bat plated in sterling silver with the winner's name and average engraved upon it. Throughout the years, heated battles for the Silver Bat Award have featured unusual machinations by players, managers, and entire teams, including allegations of cheating, bribery, deliberate misplays, and questionable strategies, and, in one especially bitter campaign, charges of racism. Here are the stories behind these races.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. The Birth of Batting Average
2. The First Batting Champions
3. Waiting on Deck
4. The Eternal Question: Play or Sit?
5. Bubbles, Cuckoo, and Schnozz
6. A Walk Is as Good as a Hit
7. Mad Dog
8. The Ted Williams Effect
9. An Equal Chance
10. Brett and McRae
11. 1931: A Four-Way Race
12. Scoring Disputes
13. The Curious Case of Adrian Anson
14. The Unloved Batting Champ
15. Cheating for Fun and Profit
16. Backing In
17. The Boston Connection
18. Looking Out for Number One
19. Minor League Shenanigans
20. Quirky Rules
21. Sittin’ Out
22. The Most Contentious Batting Race of All
23. Beyond Batting Average
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"