* Lest we forget: Jules Tygiel

July 2, 2008

His name might not be as familiar as David Halberstam or Maury Allen or other prolific baseball authors, but Jules Tygiel was a master of the social importance of the game. He wrote several volumes about Jackie Robinson, but managed to keep his material fresh and pertinent.

Tygiel passed away yesterday at the age of 59. He was one of my favorites. BaseballToaster.com paid him a nice tribute, which you can read here.

For the time being, you can read his home page from San Fransisco State University.

The Amazon Report on Jules Tygiel:

Past Time: Baseball As History

Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy

Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball

Extra Bases: Reflections on Jackie Robinson, Race, and Baseball History

Jackin Robinson and His Legacy

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1 * Adrian Burgos July 2, 2008 at 11:18 am

Thanks for alerting us about Jules’ passing. He was an outstanding scholar, an exemplar as a historian, a standard bearer for those of us who write on baseball history, and someone who was very giving of his time to younger scholars like myself. Jules read my book manuscript several times and gave thorough and thoughtful critique. Whatever success my book “Playing America’s Game” has enjoyed is a credit to his gracefulness and wonderful spirit. I will not forget the tour of McCovey Cove and San Francisco he gave me during All-Star Game week.

He will be missed.

2 *Steve Appel July 3, 2008 at 5:21 pm

While playing intramural softball in college with Jules, I watched him bobble a grounder at shortstop. I asked him what his best position was, and he answered “sportswriter.”
Of course, he was much more than a daily diarist. Jules was a (he’d want me to write “an”) historian/fan, balancing those two perspectives better than anyone else.
Despite his letter condemning the action to uninvite Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandan, Jules was very popular at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I was with him on several occasions as a chauffeur/research assistant. The library staff, researchers, and other Hall of Fame officials always greeted him as a pre-eminent baseball historian, and he was highly regarded as one who would share expertise, views, and techniques with anyone.
His last trip to the Hall of Fame was to attend the “Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture” in June 2006, whose theme was the role race played on our “national pastime” (which he would define as baseball and America). Although he wasn’t presenting any papers, as he entered each lecture, the speaker acknowledged his presence, noting Jules’ influence on their own work. (After each bow, he turned toward me with a sly smile.)

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