Touching All the Bases

Thomas D. Phillips lectures on baseball history to a wide variety of audiences. His writings about baseball have appeared in Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Baseball Review, Spitball: The Baseball Literary Journal, and other publications.

Introduction
Chapter One: In the Beginning
1. The Diamond, the Team, and the Rules
Chapter Two: Firsts
2. First All-Salaried Professional Team
3. The Pioneers
4. First World Series
5. First Night Game
6. First Farm System
7. First Radio and Television Broadcasts
8. First Designated Hitter … and the DH’s Ancestor
Chapter Three: The Most Famous Plays
9.  Bill Wambsganss: Unassisted Triple Play
10. Willie Mays: “The Catch”
11. Bobby Thomson: “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”
12. Enos Slaughter: “The Mad Dash”
13. Gabby Hartnett: “The Homer in the Gloamin’”
14. Jeter’s Miracle
15. Bill Mazeroski: Seventh Game Walk Off Home run
16. Kirk Gibson: The Unbelievable Home run
17. Babe Ruth: “The Called Shot”
18. Bucky Dent: The Unprintable Middle Name
19. Al Gionfriddo: The Catch That Frustrated DiMaggio
Chapter Four: The Most Famous Misplays
20. Mickey Owen: The Dropped Third Strike
21. Fred Snodgrass: “The $30,000 Muff”
22. Fred Merkle’s Bonehead Play
23. Bill Buckner’s Error
Chapter Five: Streaks and Sustained Excellence
24. DiMaggio’s Hitting Streak
25. Ted Williams: Consecutive Games/Times on Base
26. Johnny Vander Meer: Two Consecutive No-Hitters
27. Orel Hershiser: 59 Consecutive Scoreless Innings Pitched
28. Eric Gagne: 84 Consecutive Saves
29. Charles Radbourn: 60 Victories in a Season (Or Maybe Only 59)
30. Carl Hubbell: 24 Consecutive Pitching Victories
31. Home runs in Eight Consecutive Games
32. New York Yankees: Five Consecutive World Championships
33. Longest Winning Streak
34. At the Top of Their Games … For Years and Years
Chapter Six: Streaks and Sustained (Lack of) Excellence
35. Zero for 2011
36. Longest Losing Streak
37. Anthony Young: 27 Consecutive Losses
38. The Worst Team
Chapter Seven: Highs and Lows
39. First Pitch Grand Slam
40. First Game No-Hitter
41. Home runs on First Two At-Bats
42. Two Grand Slams in One Inning
43. Three Hits in One Inning
44. Twelve RBIs in a Game
45. Twelve Hits in a Row
46. Seven for Seven
47. Three Swings Seven Outs, and Other Bad Times
Chapter Eight: Special Games
48. The Long and the Short
49. The Most Innings
50. Seventeen Runs in One Inning
51. The Most Runs Scored
52. Twelve Perfect Innings
53. Double No-Hitter
54. The Most Unusual No-Hitter – Or Was It a 26-Out Perfect Game?
55. Larsen’s Perfect Game
56. The Pine Tar Game
57. The Bloody Sock
Chapter Nine: Moments to Remember
58. The Garbled Phone Calls Game: “Can You Hear Me Now?”
59. The Fan in Aisle 4, Row 8, Seat 113
60. Jeter Hits a Home run – Or Maybe Not
61. Stirnweiss’s Batting Title
62. Ted Williams: .406 on the Last Day
63. September 28, 2011: Hours and Hours of Excitement
64. Moments that Transcend the Game
Chapter Ten: Hall of Fame
65. Babe Ruth
66. Walter Johnson
67. Ty Cobb
68. Honus Wagner
69. Christy Mathewson
Chapter Eleven: All-Star Game
70. The Windblown Balk
71. Carl Hubbell: 5Ks in a Row
72. The Eephus Pitch
73. The Collision
Chapter Twelve: The Most Famous Teams
74. “Murderer’s Row”
75. The “Big Red Machine”
76. The “Miracle Braves”
77 The “Hitless Wonders”
Chapter Thirteen: Franchises and Leagues
78. Major League Franchises
79. Other Major Leagues
80. The Negro Leagues
Chapter Fourteen: Elysian Fields
81. The Ball Parks
Chapter Fifteen: The Equipment
82. The Baseball
83. The Baseball Bat
84. Gloves and Mitts
85. Uniforms and Associated Gear
Chapter Sixteen: Computing the Stats
86 The Major Stats: What the Numbers Mean
87. The Stories the Numbers Tell
Chapter Seventeen: The Awards
88. Honors Bestowed
Chapter Eighteen: The Black Sox Scandal
89. “Say It Ain’t So, Joe”
Chapter Nineteen: The Steroids Era
90. The Doping Dilemma
Chapter Twenty: The Impact of World War II
91. Ted Williams: Left Fielder, Boston Red Sox
92. Bob Feller: Pitcher, Cleveland Indians
93. Warren Spahn: Pitcher, Boston/Milwaukee Braves
94. Pete Gray: The One-Armed Ballplayer
95. The Women’s League
Chapter Twenty-One: The Legacy of Jackie Robinson
96. Jackie
Chapter Twenty-Two: Pitching
97. Pitching: From Past to Present – Tracing the Changes
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Reserve Clause
98. Management vs. Labor
Chapter Twenty-Four: Running the Business
99. Front Office Operations: Rosters, Waivers, Options, Free Agency
Chapter Twenty-Five: Baseball in Song, Verse, and Show Business
100. Baseball in the Arts and on Screen
Chapter Twenty-Six: Nicknames
101. Dr. Strangeglove and other Labels
Appendixes
Appendix 1: Spring Training Sites
Appendix 2: World Series Results
Appendix 3: Unassisted Triple Plays
Appendix 4: Perfect Games  
Appendix 5: Hall of Fame Membership
Appendix 6: Major League Ball Parks
Appendix 7: Batting Champions
Appendix 8: Home run Champions
Appendix 9: Triple Crown Winners
Appendix 10: MVP Award Winners
Appendix 11: Cy Young Award Winners
Appendix 12: Rookies of the Year
Appendix 13: Gold Glove Record Holders
Appendix 14: Silver Slugger Record Holders
Appendix 15: Commissioners of Baseball
Appendix 16: Labor Disputes
Appendix 17: Casey at the Bat and a Sampling of Sequels
Appendix 18: Nicknames
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author