This history blends anecdote, incident, and analysis as it chronicles the story of our national pastime. Alexander covers the advent of the first professional baseball leagues, the game's surge in the early twentieth century, the Golden Twenties and the Gray Thirties, the breaking of the color line in the late forties, and the game's expansion to its current status as the premier team sport. He describes changing playing styles and outstanding teams and personalities, but also demonstrates the many connections between baseball-- as game, sport, and business-- and the evolution of tastes, values, and institutions in the United States.