Shadow Ball: The History of the Negro Leagues (Baseball the American Epic)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent juvenile history of the Negro Leagues
Review: Every year right before Opening Day I watch the Ken Burns documentary "Baseball," which is why it is clear to me that "Shadow Ball: The History of the Negro Leagues" is not simply a watered down version on what appears in the documentary series or its companion volume. This book, authored by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns with Jim O'Connor, has as much new information about its subject as it has borrowed from the PBS television documentary on which it is based. This means you will find everything you remember from "Baseball," such as the stories about Moses Fleetwood Walker and Josh Gibson, along with much more. "Shadow Ball" has seven chapters: (1) A Gentleman's Agreement looks at how blacks were kept out of the major and minor leagues; (2) Barnstorming tells how black baseball teams that traveled around the country looking for games; (3) Two Innings Ahead of Everyone Else covers how Rube Foster created the Negro Leagues; (4) The Guy People Wanted to See tells about Satchel Paige and the other big draws of the Negro Leagues, such as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard; (5) The Great Experiment, of course, is the story of Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers; (6) The Oldest Rookie in the Game returns the focus to Satchel Paige, as well as other early black stars in the Major Leagues; and (7) The Death Knell for Out Baseball contrasts the success of black players like Hank Aaron in the Majors with the quick demise of the Negro Leagues once the racial barrier was gone.

Illustrated with dozens of photographs, several of which are captioned with memorable quotations, "Shadow Ball" is a nice addition to your collection of baseball books, whether as an introduction to the history of black baseball in America or as a chance to learn more about the topic. This is one of a series of three volumes based on the "Baseball Documentary," the others being "25 Great Moments" and "Who Invented the Game?" (the latter is grossly misnamed since it is essentially a history of baseball and pretty much a condensed version of the documentary).