Baseball Without Borders

by Gmelch, George

• ISBN13: 9780803271258
• ISBN10: 0803271255
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

View the Table of Contents, an excerpt, and a list of contributors A televised baseball game from Puerto Rico, Japan, or even Cuba might look a lot like the North American game. Beneath the outward similarities, howeverthe uniforms and equipment and basic rulesthere is usually a very different history and culture influencing the nuances of the sport. These differences are what interest the authors ofBaseball without Borders, a book about America's national pastime going global and undergoing instructive, entertaining, and sometimes curious changes in the process. The contributors, leading authorities on baseball in the fourteen nations under consideration, look at how the game was importedhow it took hold and developed, how it is organized, played, and followedand what these local and regional trends and features say about the sport's place in particular cultures. Organized by regionAsia, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacificand written by journalists, historians, anthropologists, and English professors, these original essays reflect diverse perspectives and range across a refreshingly wide array of subjects: from high school baseball in Japan and Little League in Taiwan to fan behavior in Cuba and the politics of baseball in China and Korea. George Gmelch is Roger Thayer Stone Professor of Anthropology at Union College in Schenectady, New York. He is the author of nine books, includingInside Pitch: Life inside Professional BaseballandIn the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People, both available in Bison Books editions. For three seasons in the 1960s, Gmelch played in the minor leagues; he has also played professionally outside the United States for several seasons. Contributors include Carlos Azzoni, Tales Azzoni, Peter Carino, Thomas Carter, Josh Chetwynd, Joseph Clark, Dan Gordon, Colin Howell, William W. Kelly, Alan Klein, Andrew Morris, Franklin Otto, Wayne Patterson, Joseph A. Reaves, Harvey Shapiro, Thomas E. Van Hyning, and Tim Wendell. Also available:Taking in a Game: A History of Baseball in Asiaby Joseph A. Reaves

Author Biography

George Gmelch is Roger Thayer Stone Professor of Anthropology at Union College in Schenectady, New York. He is the author of nine books, including Inside Pitch: Life inside Professional Baseball and In the Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People, both available in Bison Books editions. For three seasons in the 1960s, Gmelch played in the minor leagues; he has also played professionally outside the United States for several seasons.

 

Contributors include Carlos Azzoni, Tales Azzoni, Peter Carino, Thomas Carter, Josh Chetwynd, Joseph Clark, Dan Gordon, Colin Howell, William W. Kelly, Alan Klein, Andrew Morris, Franklin Otto, Wayne Patterson, Joseph A. Reaves, Harvey Shapiro, Thomas E. Van Hyning, and Tim Wendell.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: Around the Horn	p. xiii
Asia	p. 1
Japan: Changing of the Guard in High School Baseball	p. 3
Japan: The Hanshin Tigers and Japanese Professional Baseball	p. 22
China: Silk Gowns and Gold Gloves	p. 43
Taiwan: Baseball, Colonialism, and Nationalism	p. 65
Korea: Straw Sandals and Strong Arms	p. 89
The Americas	p. 115
Dominican Republic: Forging an International Industry	p. 117
Cuba: Behind the Curtain	p. 136
Cuba: Community, Fans, and Ballplayers	p. 147
Puerto Rico: A Major League Steppingstone	p. 160
Nicaragua: In Search of Diamonds	p. 172
Brazil: Baseball Is Popular, and the Players Are Japanese!	p. 196
Canada: Internationalizing America's National Pastime	p. 212
Europe	p. 227
Italy: No Hotdogs in the Bleachers	p. 229
Holland: An American Coaching Honkbal	p. 247
Great Britain: Baseball's Battle for Respect in the Land of Cricket, Rugby, and Soccer	p. 263
The Pacific	p. 289
Australia: Baseball Down Under	p. 291
Afterword: Is Baseball Really Global?	p. 305
The Contributors	p. 315
Index	p. 321
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