Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2022 -

The partnership between Soderholm-Difatte and the publisher has already produced some of the best baseball history being written today. This latest volume covers the last 25 years, including the excitement of wildcards, playoffs, and more than a dozen World Series seasons that rank among the most dramatic sporting events in US history. Not since Leonard Koppett has baseball had a chronicler of such breadth, knowledge, historical acumen, and literary grace. This author understands the impact that expanded post-seasons have had on general managers, who must bring different skill sets and judgments to building a winning team, even for one season: no one has been able to repeat a World Series victory within this century. This book is for individuals who understand the subtleties of analytical baseball, clubhouse psychology, and the tools required to build a player roster for victory in a grinding six-month season. All 30 teams have their moments in the sun. The road to victory seems possible for any franchise, and the cursed ghosts of the White Sox, Red Sox, and Cubs teams past now rest in peace because of the strategies that gained the elusive golden ring in the 21st century. This is an exciting and intelligent study of a remarkable historical moment in baseball annals.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

Readers looking for a charming introduction to cricket will find nothing better than this. Though ostensibly a history of cricket as told through the lives of some of its most famous, beloved, and notorious players, it is much more. To be sure, the well-known figures are here: the 19th-century English giant W. G. Grace and the great Indian Ranjitsinhji. The towering Australian Don Bradman figures large, and the English showman Ian Botham has his place. Great contests are described with gusto: Australia and England, India and Pakistan. And let's not forget that Imran Khan, currently Prime Minister of Pakistan, first made his name as a cricketer. One section is devoted to women's cricket, including the creator of the Women's Cricket World Cup, Rachael Heyhoe Flint. One notable figure this American reviewer missed is J. Barton King, the Philadelphian often considered one of cricket's finest bowlers. This review cannot convey the sheer joy of the book. It is a pleasure to read and moreover, because it offers a broad cultural history with footnotes and bibliography, it will fit into academic libraries of all types. Thomas (Swansea Univ.) offers a treasure trove that can be dipped into profitably by those well versed in cricket history and lore, yet will educate the novice.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

This monograph offers a delightfully quirky, unusually personal take on the history of sport around the world. Covering the history of global sport is an ambitious undertaking, but Vamplew (emer., Univ. of Stirling) gives it his all, exploring a commendable range of sports and a variety of sporting issues. Though he focuses more on Western sport, particularly sport in the US, Europe, and around the former British Empire, he does mention sport in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and other locales. Notably, Vamplew also calls for additional research on indigenous sport in a global context and sport for average people and those who have lost in sporting events. Although he focuses largely on men's sport, the author does discuss some women's sporting efforts (e.g., soccer, water sports) but makes almost no mention of transgender athletes' struggles in the gender binary of sport. The text addresses a wide range of sporting controversies, drawing examples that range from political and sport business narratives to stories of drug issues and gambling activities, among many others. The book provides a fun overview of sport history, and the author's personal anecdotes amusingly reveal his perspectives and biases. This is an excellent introduction to the broad topic of global sport history.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

In this timely contribution to the publisher's "Sports and American Culture" series, White (Univ. of Virginia Law School) traces the development of US soccer, exploring its marginalization vis-a-vis so-called American indigenous sports--gridiron football, baseball, and basketball. Given the expansion, industrialization, and urbanization of the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, White critically questions the early neglect of soccer, deemed a "mere" ethnic sport played mostly by immigrants. Conversely, he also examines the growing success of the game since the 1970s as a participatory and spectator sport. The book's nine chapters detail the English origins of the game, its ambivalent reception in US schools and colleges, the frustrating attempts to organize and unite the various associations, and the eventual formation of Major League Soccer in 1996. Given the secondary role of women in the early sport, the introduction of Title IX in 1972 helped bring about significant improvements in women's soccer at all levels--grassroots, national, and international. Now, with increased television coverage and improved facilities, including soccer-specific stadiums, US soccer can claim to be part of the worldwide "beautiful game." White's 45 pages of notes include detailed bibliographical references, and black-and-white illustrations accompany the text. All readers will appreciate this essential resource for sports researchers.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

This well-researched, thoroughly sourced work focuses on the dangers of repetitive brain trauma, particularly in youth contact sports. The chapter organization and accessible format shows a particular strength. The text begins by explaining the pros and cons of youth contact sports participation and why people should care about youth brain injuries. Much of the book centers on the science behind current understandings of several types of traumatic brain injury, arguing that any type of repetitive subconcussive head impact, even those not at the level of concussion or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), can have a lasting, long-term impact on the brain. Another strength of this book is in the author's clear explanations of the science that informs current understanding of brain injuries, how those injuries happen, and why youthful brains are vulnerable during development. The author deftly dismantles common arguments and myths used by some in defending the current version of youth sports. A primary takeaway is that although people might not know everything, they do know enough to take the threat of brain injury seriously at the youth level and need to make changes now. This book offers practical solutions for doing just that and is important for anyone concerned about safety in youth sports.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.