OUTSIDER BASEBALL: THE WEIRD WORLD OF HARDBALL ON THE FRINGE, 1876-1950

OUTSIDER BASEBALL: 1876-1950            SCOTT SIMKUS
Posted:  Jan. 1, 2014

  With new research and revelations that will surprise even the most ardent baseball history buffs, this engaging account tells the story of the mostly forgotten world of the mercenaries, scalawags, and outcasts who made up the independent professional ball clubs. Combining meticulous research with modern analytics, the book provides a deeper understanding of how vast and eclectic the world of professional baseball was during the first half of the 20th century. It illuminates an alternate baseball universe where Babe Ruth, Rube Waddell, and John McGraw crossed bats with the Cuban Stars, Tokyo Giants, Brooklyn Bushwicks, dozens of famous Negro league teams, and novelty acts such as the House of David and Bloomer Girls. Written in a gritty prose style, this entertaining book shares the stories of these unsung players and uses a critical lens to separate fact from fiction.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
 There is a lot of information in this book and if you like baseball and the history of baseball you will really like this book in this book Outsider Baseball you find out about the teams and players who played a level below the major leagues for one reason or another. Some would get a try out with a big league team but if they did not produce in a given time they were gone. Some never even wanted to play for a major league team because they could make more money playing for their local team and a travel team. Some would play against big league players when they would do there barn storming tours. He also talks about the different leagues from the south, mid-west, pacific coast, and the ‘negro leagues’. He talks about different players some who were famous and some of the myths and some of the facts. He also compares players with a modern day system of stats which I thought was interesting. He spends a little time on a team called the “House of David”, which was a famous minor or barn storming team that a few big league players were on. They even had championship games in the mid-west that would bring out some of the best teams and some of though were biracial. I got this book from net galley.