Professional Baseball in America
Price: $200.00
Chicago: The Advisory Council, 1921. First Edition. Near Fine.
First edition, first printing. Publisher’s black and brown boards, stamped in gilt to front board. Near fine book with very light edgewear and a touch of dimming to gilt. Overall, a very nice and sturdy copy. Professional Baseball in America is an official baseball rulebook that addresses the “agreements and rules defining the relations of leagues, clubs and players.” The book provides insight into the business side of the game, detailing the organizational hierarchy, player contract forms, and more. After the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, the autocratic former federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed as Commissioner of the league as a means of restoring public faith in the league and rooting out corruption. This annual book was compiled by Leslie O'Connor, who served as the assistant to Commissioner Landis for more than 20 years. Landis’ philosophy is laid out in the book’s foreword with lines like, “...the machinery of organization must work smoothly, so that the public will not be annoyed by controversies which spoil sport and debase the game.”. Item #PBA001
