Red Foley’s Cartoon History of Baseball
When I posted about Alex Irvine’s The Comic Book Story of Baseball, I also had Red Foley’s book in mind.
Foley, a longtime sportswriter and official scorer, published this lively little number in a relatively more innocent era. The players are portrayed in an almost superhero method, muscular, always smiling, energetic. Compare that with the illustrations in Irvine’s work, which are much more somber, even gloomy, made more so by the lack of color.
The Cartoon History follows each team (at the time) in a more or less chronological manner. The images and brief narratives reminded me of the backs of some of Topps’ baseball cards when I was growing up, with a bit of Mad Magazine thrown in. Some of the texts describing the high- and low-lights, are “out of the blue” and full of puns and other wordplay.
I won’t vouch for the scholarship that went into presenting an accurate history of the national pastime, but Foley’s slim book (less than 100 pages) sure is fun.
is available on Amazon.com,
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