A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball: The Game on the Field - Hardcover

I can't wait for the subsequent volumes. -- Keith Olbermann, News Anchor, Countdown on MSNBC; co-host, The Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio Peter Morris's A Game of Inches is the one that every serious baseball fan must have. -- Rob Neyer * ESPN the Magazine * A splendidly entertaining book. -- Donald Honig Truly amazing. -- Rob Neyer * The Griddle * Wonderful baseball anecdotes...a comprehensive volume of who-did-what-first adding a necessary human dimension to baseball facts and figures. * Philadelphia City Paper * Every season needs a browser's delight of a baseball reference book. Morris' remarkable volume may have set that standard. -- John Marshall * Seattle Post-Intelligencer * Absolutely fantastic.... There is no end to the historical detail, the delightful anecdotes, and the clear explanations. -- Dr. John D. Elgenauer, Super70s.com--Baseball Offering fascinating information on every page, this is a unique resource for baseball historians and serious fans. * CHOICE * Morris combines learning, precision, and devotion to produce this charming book...This is heaven for fans of the game.... * Library Journal * Morris' remarkable volume may have set [the] standard for this season and several to follow. -- John Marshall * Seattle Post-Intelligencer * It's an everything you ever wanted to know reference source for anyone who truly loves baseball. * Albany Times Union * Morris gives the scoop on three- and four-man umpiring crews, the history of bats, and more. -- Carol Herwig * USA Today * An encyclopedic effort....interesting observations. -- John Monaghan * Providence Journal * Clear some fresh space on your bookshelves. One of the all-time essential reference works for baseball has...arrived. -- Daniel Gabriel * Elysian Fields Quarterly * Majestic in their detail and exemplary in their dedication to scholarship, these books will leave the reader...exhilarated. * CHOICE * You could do no better than Peter Morris' A Game of Inches, an astonishingly well-researched history. -- Keith Olbermann * Msnbc * A great source for baseball history. * Daily News * Solid piece of near exhaustive research into...crucial aspects of the development of baseball. -- John P. Rossi, La Salle University * The Historian *

As befits a game traditionally passed from one generation to the next, baseball has always had a special reverence for origins. Claims of being first with any element of the game are disputed with fervor and passion. When the octogenarian Fred Goldsmith died in 1939, a headline proclaimed, 'Goldsmith Dies Insisting He Invented Curve Ball'; Fred Goldsmith understood the secret of immortality. Yet while countless thousands of words have been spilled on the subject of baseball "firsts," there has been no definitive source for the settlement of disputes. Peter Morris's endlessly fascinating A Game of Inches has now arrived to fill the void. Impeccably researched and engagingly written, this treasure trove will surprise, delight, and educate even the most knowledgeable fan by dispelling cherished myths and revealing the source of many of baseball's features that we now take for granted. The scope of A Game of Inches is encyclopedic, with nearly a thousand entries that illuminate the origins of items ranging from catchers' masks to hook slides to intentional walks to cork-center baseballs. But this is much more than just a reference guide. Award-winning author Peter Morris explains the context that led each new item to emerge when it did, and chronicles the often surprising responses to these innovations. Of few books can it genuinely be said that once you start reading, it's hard to put it down-but A Game of Inches is one of them. It belongs in the pantheon of great baseball books, and will give any reader a deeper appreciation of why baseball matters so much to Americans. (A companion volume, A Game of Inches: The Game Behind the Scenes, was published in the fall of 2006.)