Machogear: “Baseball Comes Home” Makes A Great Stocking Stuffer

Because we love you all, we want to make sure you get the last-minute gift ideas you need. And since there’s probably at least one baseball fan you haven’t shopped for yet, we’ve found the perfect last minute gift.
Why not pick up “Baseball Comes Home,” a new book from Dan Valenti that chronicles the 70 year history of the Hall of Fame Game, the annual Cooperstown tradition that was put to rest in 2008.

“Baseball Comes Home” traces the 70-year series of the Hall of Fame Game played at historic Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY beginning in 1939, the year the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened with its initial inductees (including Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb). It concludes with the 2008’s final tilt between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, which was cancelled by two fierce storms.

In the 201-page book, Valenti has unearthed much new information and many photographs that have never been published or have been seen only once upon original publication years and even decades ago. More than 150 photos, many in color, support the 75,000-word text in an oversized, coffee-table paperback format. Organized by decade, “Baseball Comes Home” includes game stories and discussion of every game, box scores, a complete index, and appendices.

Most of the source material in this definitive book comes from the Baseball Hall of Fame’s voluminous archives. For the first time, a single source brings together the most complete presentation ever of this important, heretofore untold, part of baseball history. This book will be relevant for years to come for baseball fans, researchers, historians, social scientists (each chapter includes a cultural overview of a relevant decade), and any reader who enjoys probing, intelligent, and insightful prose.

The book sets straight the “myth” of Abner Doubleday’s “invention” of baseball in Cooperstown and chronicles the changing nature of America’s Pastime, especially the tidal influence of money as it made its way through - and forever changed - the game of baseball following free agency in 1976.

Baseball books always have a very historic feel to them, and since Valenti relied on info from the Cooperstown archives for the book, this is sure to be poison for the casual sports fan.
But for the dedicated baseball enthusiast, this is pure gold. And for just $24.95 through the author’s website, you can afford to take a chance with this one.
“Baseball Comes Home” by Dan Valenti Published; Book Chronicles Hall of Fame Game Series, 1939-2008 [PR Newswire]