Announcement: New book by Peter Morris

November 13, 2007

Peter Morris, author of the two-volume Game of Inches, has a new title coming out next March. But Didn’t We Have Fun? An Informal History of Baseball’s Pioneer Era, 1843-1870, published by Ivan R. Dee, looks back at an innocent time before the game turned pro.

From Publisher’s Weekly:

Morris … explores the earliest days of baseball through the voices of players and journalists who wrote about it in the 27-year period in the mid-19th century…. The text is an intriguing study for students of baseball history curious about how aspects of the game developed, such as the foul ball, sliding, balls and strikes, and the role of the umpire.00-have-funj.jpg

The author denotes the Civil War and the increasing seriousness of players who changed games from ceremonial pastime to cutthroat competitions as the “culprits” in transforming baseball. The review praises Morris for his extensive research but also states “His focus on a detailed account of baseball’s development, however, does not provide much insight into the people who played the game.”

Morris, whose Level Playing Fields: How the Groundskeeping Murphy Brothers Shaped Baseball, was released this year, writes about his latest project on his Web site.

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