Play it Again: Baseball Experts on What Might Have Been

Baseball fans who know the history of the game inside and out will find a wealth of intrigue in this book-not more history, but alternative history. What if Ty Cobb and Shoeless Joe Jackson had stood side by side in Cleveland’s outfield? What if integration had taken place in the major leagues before 1947? Who would have won the World Series had strikes not shortened the 1994 season? A panel of experts was called upon to use their knowledge and imagination to write
what could have been
in the history of baseball. Newcomers to the topic of baseball history will also find the book captivating; these fictional accounts are set against the backdrop of actual occurrences. The history of baseball from 1869 to the controversial 2003 playoffs is literally rewritten in this compilation of fantasy scenarios. Fifty journalists, historians, authors and former baseball players were given free rein to second guess decisions and make predictions about baseball history as it could have been. Chapters explore this fantasy history of baseball by eras, such as the beginning of the game as a professional sport, the deadball era, war years, growth years, the modern game and its most recent decades. The author begins by introducing each panelist and concludes with an appendix that asks them to speculate on general questions, such as: Who might have entered the Hall of Fame, had they not experienced injuries or other roadblocks? A foreword is by Pete Palmer, journalist, author, and inventor of on-base plus slugging, now universally used as a good measure of batting strength.