{"product_id":"baseball-before-we-knew-it-a-search-for-the-roots-of-the-game-9781496242693","title":"Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research \u003cbr\u003e Winner of the North American Society for Sport History Book Award \u003cbr\u003e A \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e Outstanding Academic Title\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e When \u003ci\u003eBaseball before We Knew It\u003c\/i\u003e was first published in 2005, it shattered many long-held assumptions about the pastime's origins. No, baseball was not original to America. No, baseball did not come from the English game rounders. Yes, of course, the Doubleday story was in fact a myth, but for the first time its secret backstory had been revealed. Beyond all its myth busting, \u003ci\u003eBaseball before We Knew It\u003c\/i\u003e traveled back in time to uncover the true roots of the sport, exploring the many antecedent ball games from Britain and elsewhere that contributed bits of themselves to baseball's evolution. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Now, in this twentieth anniversary edition of his classic work, David Block fills in more of baseball's origin story by summarizing the discoveries and advancements he and his fellow historians have accomplished over the past two decades. Other new contributions also appear for the first time in this 2025 edition, including a new foreword by John Thorn, the official historian of Major League Baseball; an expanded annotated bibliography of books relating to baseball's origins from before the Civil War; and two new essays from the author. \u003ci\u003eBaseball before We Knew It\u003c\/i\u003e is a comprehensive, reliable, and readable account of baseball's history before it became America's national pastime. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Block\u003c\/b\u003e is a baseball historian and antiquarian. He is the author of \u003ci\u003ePastime Lost: The Humble, Original, and Now Completely Forgotten Game of English Baseball\u003c\/i\u003e (Nebraska, 2019). \u003cb\u003eTim Wiles\u003c\/b\u003e is the former director of research for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and a coauthor of \u003ci\u003eBaseball's Greatest Hit: The Story of \"Take Me Out to the Ball Game.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Thorn\u003c\/b\u003e is the official historian of Major League Baseball and the author of \u003ci\u003eBaseball in the Garden of Eden\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51199516410130,"sku":"9781496242693","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b95279ca-c824-40ac-90df-28ca4053fd02.jpg?v=1744879633","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/baseball-before-we-knew-it-a-search-for-the-roots-of-the-game-9781496242693","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}