Chicago Sluggers: The First 75 Years, Illinois (Images of Baseball Series)

by John Freyer, Mark Rucker

Overview

The Chicago White Stockings—later renamed the Cubs—won the inaugural National League Pennant in 1876 with a barrage of offensive numbers. Ross Barnes led the league at a .421 clip, and three other Chicago batters finished among the league’s top five hitters. Even pitcher Al Spalding hit an impressive .312. Thus began the "northsiders" tradition of producing some of the major leagues’ greatest sluggers—including "Cap" Anson, "Gabby" Hartnett, and "Hack" Wilson.

The Chicago White Sox—still named the White Sox—won the inaugural American League Pennant in 1901, led by Fielder Jones’ .311 average for a team built more around pitching than hitting—a team that won its first World Series title in 1906 with the nickname "The Hitless Wonders." But the "southsiders" also put up some lofty offensive numbers with the likes of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Collins.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738533940
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	06/01/2005
Series:	Images of Baseball Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.52(w) x 9.28(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

John Freyer and Mark Rucker, both members of the Society for American Baseball Research and repeat authors in Arcadia’s Images of Baseball series, have collaborated to bring Chicago baseball fans a unique visual-historical tour of the city’s rich baseball heritage in Chicago Sluggers: The First 75 Years.