Overview
Examining the connection between baseball and our society as a whole, How Baseball Explains America is a fascinating, one-of-a-kind journey through America's pastime. Longtime USA TODAY baseball editor and columnist Hal Bodley explores just how essential baseball is to understanding the American experience. He takes readers into the Oval Office with George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton as the former presidents share their thoughts on the game, he looks at the changes that America's Greatest Generation ushered in, as well as examining baseball's struggle with performance enhancing drugs alongside America's war on drugs. An unabashedly celebratory explanation of America's love affair with baseball and the men who make it possible, this work sheds light on topics such as the role Jackie Robinson's signing with the Dodgers played in the civil rights movement, how baseball's westward expansion mirrored the growth of our national economy, labor strife, baseball families, the international explosion of the game, and even the myriad ways in which movies, music, and baseball are intrinsically tied. It is a must read for anyone interested in more fully understanding not only the game but also the nation in which it thrives.
Author Biography
Hal Bodley is a columnist for MLB.com and has covered baseball since 1958. He is a former columnist for USA Today and is the founder and former president of the Associated Press Editors Association and has served as a broadcast analyst for CBS, CNN, and NBC. He has won 30 regional and national writing awards and was elected to the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame and the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame. He lives in Belleair Beach, Florida. George Will is a world-renowned newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He was awarded the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
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Press Releases
How Baseball Explains America
By Hal Bodley
Foreword by George F. Will
“…One of the most important books ever written on baseball”
– Bill Madden, New York Daily News
Among the many craftsmen of baseball journalism, few have been able to match the accomplishments of the legendary Hal Bodley. More than half a century ago, a young Bodley began covering America’s game. Since then he has stuck to what he loves and created a legacy of unforgettable baseball prose.
In How Baseball Explains America, longtime USA TODAY baseball editor and Dean of American baseball writers Hal Bodley takes readers on a one-of-a-kind journey through America’s pastime. Exploring just how essential baseball is to understanding the American experience, Bodley covers a span of unforgettable and unique moments, including:
- Baseball’s ongoing battle with performance enhancing drugs alongside America’s struggling war on drugs
- How baseball’s westward expansion mirrored the growth of our national economy
- Thoughts on the game from Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush
- The myriad ways in which movies, music, and baseball are intrinsically tied
- The legendary troika of Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa recently selected to the MLB’s Hall of Fame
An unabashedly celebratory look at America’s love affair with baseball and the men who make it possible, How Baseball Explains America sheds light on the past century of both the memorable performances on the field and the trials and tribulations off of the field that made the game a true national treasure.
About the Author:
Hal Bodley has covered baseball since 1958 and is currently senior correspondent for MLB.com. He is the former baseball editor of USA TODAY and has served as a broadcast analyst for CBS, CNN, and NBC. He is the co-author with Pete Rose of Countdown to Cobb: My Diary of the Record Breaking 1985 Season and author of The Team That Wouldn’t Die, on the world champion 1980 Phillies.
Contact: Josh Williams - Triumph Books - 312.568.5404 - j.williams@triumphbooks.com
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