Where They Ain't: The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orieles, the Team That Gave Birth to Modern Baseball Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Where They Ain't: The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orieles, the Team That Gave Birth to Modern Baseball Book

"Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it" is one of those perfect axioms that begs the question, When is baseball gonna finally remember and get it right? Subtitled "The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles, the Team That Gave Birth to Modern Baseball," Solomon's splendidly energetic examination of one of the sport's most powerful and storied franchises stands as a fascinating--and cautionary--study of how a team, regardless of quality, can simply implode. And what a team the Orioles of the 1890s was: manager Ned Hanlon and stars Wee Willie Keeler, John McGraw, Hugh Jennings, Wilbert Robinson, Dan Brouthers, Iron Man McGinnity, and Joe Kelley all deserve their plaques in Cooperstown. As a unit, they created "scientific baseball," redefining the way the game was played and dominating the National League. Yet, by 1903, to Baltimore's horror and confusion, there were no more Orioles. A series of self-destructive choices successfully conspired to export their best players to Brooklyn and remove the franchise--now a member of the American League and playing in New York as the Highlanders--from the Major League standings for nearly half a century. A fine reporter and writer, Solomon does a remarkable job of bringing the past into the present, exploring how little has changed in terms of baseball business and organizational stupidity through the years. With its marvelous cast of real--and fully realized--characters, Where They Ain't reads as much like a novel as it does like history, and though we know how it ends, it remains an important story worth telling, learning from, and certainly remembering. --Jeff SilvermanRead More

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  • Product Description

    In the 1890s, the legendary Baltimore Orioles of the National League (sic) under the tutelage of manager Ned Hanlon, perfected a style of play known as "scientific baseball, " featuring such innovations as the sacrifice bunt, the hit-and-run, the squeeze play, and the infamous Baltimore chop. Its best hitter, Wee Willie Keeler, had the motto "keep your eye clear and hit 'em where they ain't" -- which he did. He and his colorful teammates, fierce third-baseman John McGraw, avuncular catcher Wibert Robinson, and heartthrob center fielder Joe Kelly, won three straight pennants from 1894 to 1896. But the Orioles were swept up and ultimately destroyed in a business intrigue involving the political machines of three large cities and collusion with the ambitious men who ran the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers. Burt Solomon narrates the rise and fall of this colorful franchise as a cautionary tale of greed and overreaching that speaks volumes as well about the enterprise of baseball a century later.

  • 0385498829
  • 9780385498821
  • Burt Solomon
  • 1 April 2000
  • Main Street Books
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 368
  • 1
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