No Money, No Beer, No Pennants: The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression

by Scott H. Longert

Overview

The Cleveland Indians of 1928 were a far cry from the championship team of 1920. They had begun the decade as the best team in all of baseball, but over the following eight years, their owner died, the great Tris Speaker retired in the face of a looming scandal, and the franchise was in terrible shape. Seeing opportunity in the upheaval, Cleveland real estate mogul Alva Bradley purchased the ball club in 1927, infused it with cash, and filled its roster with star players such as Bob Feller, Earl Averill, and Hal Trosky. He aligned himself with civic leaders to push for a gigantic new stadium that—along with the team that played in it—would be the talk of the baseball world.

Then came the stock market crash of 1929. Municipal Stadium was built, despite the collapse of the industrial economy in Rust Belt cities, but the crowds did not follow. Always the shrewd businessman, Bradley had engineered a lease agreement with the city of Cleveland that included an out clause, and he exercised that option after the 1934 season, leaving the 80,000-seat, multimillion-dollar stadium without a tenant.

In No Money, No Beer, No Pennants, Scott H. Longert gives us a lively history of the ups and downs of a legendary team and its iconic players as they persevered through internal unrest and the turmoil of the Great Depression, pursuing a pennant that didn’t come until 1948. Illustrated with period photographs and filled with anecdotes of the great players, this book will delight fans of baseball and fans of Cleveland.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821422441
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2016
Edition description:	1
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	1,081,715
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Scott H. Longert is the author of six books (including four Ohio University Press titles) on Cleveland baseball history from the post–Civil War era through the middle of the twentieth century. He has an MA in American history from Cleveland State University and has appeared on numerous broadcast media shows and baseball documentaries. Longert is a lifetime resident of Cleveland, where he lives with his wife, Vicki, and several dogs and cats.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 Change of the Guard 5

Chapter 2 Starting to Build 23

Chapter 3 The Vote Is Yes 43

Chapter 4 Trouble Ahead 57

Chapter 5 An Improved Ball Club 79

Chapter 6 A Homegrown Star 119

Chapter 7 Grand New Stadium 148

Chapter 8 The Big Train Comes to Town 172

Chapter 9 Return to 66th and Lexington 200

Chapter 10 Goodbye to Walter 224

Chapter 11 A Teenage Hero 250

Sources 275

Index 277

Editorial Reviews

Avid baseball fans, especially Cleveland fans, will enjoy No Money, No Beer, No Pennants.… A fine addition to any baseball fan’s bookshelf.”—Canadian Journal of History


“Though, as the title indicates, there aren’t too many happy events recorded in the book, it remains fascinating for the many stories and details Longert has pulled from his research.”—Akron Beacon-Journal


“Tribe fans will read it with great enthusiasm and baseball historians will reference it often, as Scott Longert brings much new, important information to the table. I particularly appreciated the backstories of the players and the conflicts that the team faced: old stadium versus new, radio broadcasts versus not, and day games versus night.”—Jon Hart, author of Man versus Ball: One Ordinary Guy and His Extraordinary Sports Adventures


“Much has been written about the great Indians players of the 1930s, but not so much on the team itself, and the building of the stadium is a great backdrop. Longert knows his stuff and goes to the right sources, and excels at capturing life in baseball at a particularly critical time for Clevelanders as well as the country.”—Marc Bona, features writer, Cleveland.com


“In so many baseball books, the authors report on too many details of too many games. Longert is more selective, sometimes only recounting key moments of pivotal games. I was sorry when this book ended.”—Book Reviews by Charles

From the Publisher