From Publishers Weekly
Nelson (The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration) presents the development of the sport in California from its introduction until 1969, just before native son Curt Flood filed suit to challenge baseball's "plantation mentality" by fighting the reserve clause, ultimately opening the door for free agency and all it has wrought. Baseball in California is more than Barry Bonds and Vin Scully, Nelson reminds the reader. It's Jackie Robinson growing up in Pasadena before breaking the infamous color line; Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams growing up at opposite ends of the state and turning into one of the game's legendary rivalries; and Japanese-Americans, uprooted from their homes during WWII, playing ball in internment camps. California didn't have a major league franchise until the Dodgers and Giants arrived from New York after the 1957 season, but fans were able to enjoy the excitement of the Pacific Coast League. And scores of players raised in the congenial climates of the West went on to success in the big leagues. Nelson has a knack for research and an ear for good anecdotes as he reviews the impact California baseball has had not only on the game in this country but as an "export" to Japan and Mexico as well. This volume is copublished with the ample resources of the California Historical Society. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hank Greenwald, Sportscaster
"There are nuggets galore to be found in the mining of California’s rich baseball heritage…Nelson has dug them up..."

Jules Tygiel, author of Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy
"The Golden Game is a lively, remarkably comprehensive account, full of wonderful tales and anecdotes."

Stockton Record, June 15, 2004
"...a riveting narrative that follows baseball in California against the backdrop of the Golden State's history."

David Kipen, San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 2004
"...transcends its regional emphasis to earn a place on the shelf of anyone who loves the game."

Sports Illustrated, August 23, 2004
"You don't have to be a Californian to enjoy these important chapters in the game's history."

Book Description
California didn’t get its first major league baseball teams until 1958, when the Dodgers and Giants moved from the East Coast to the shores of the Pacific, but the state’s history in the game began a century before, when New Yorkers drawn west by the gold rush transplanted the seeds of the fledgling sport to the San Francisco Bay Area. _The Golden Game: The Story of California Baseball_ presents, in words and in pictures, more than 150 years of that history, from sandlot ball in the 1850s to more recent times. Here is a narrative of California’s unique role in the sport, not only as the home of the Pacific Coast League and many vital semipro teams, but as the birthplace and proving ground for more major league ballplayers than any other state. Jackie, Casey, Lefty, the Schnazz, Joltin’ Joe, Sparky, Teddy Ballgame, the Singing Cowboy, Turkey, Sandy, Chief, El Goofy, Minnie, Babe, Chick, Ping…all called California home. In baseball—as in politics, technology, and popular culture—the Golden State has a long and fascinating history of breaking ground and influencing national trends. _The Golden Game_ is a richly illustrated and lively read, as well as a well-researched reference work.

From the Publisher
Featured on NBC's "The Today Show" and National Public Radio. The book that spawned Governor Schwarzenegger to announce September "California Baseball History Month."

About the Author
Kevin Nelson worked on _The Golden Game_ for nearly three years. He traveled the state on a baseball odyssey, going to games, visiting ballfields and playgrounds, trooping around historic baseball sites, walking the old neighborhoods where Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson grew up and played ball as kids, attending the conventions of retired ballplayers—all to help him tell the more than 150-year history of California baseball. Nelson has written fifteen books and numerous articles about sports. He is married with three children and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Baseball and the Gold Rush, Ernest Thayer and "Casey at the Bat," baseball crook Hal Chase, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson and integration, crusty Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Hollywood baseball movies, Satchel Paige vs. Dizzy Dean, Kenichi Zenimura and the Japanese American experience, Sparky Anderson, Gene Autry, Willie Mays, Tommy Lasorda, and the rise of the baby boom generation of players -- all of these people and stories are part of the incredible saga of California baseball and how it has shaped the national pastime. Kevin Nelson, author of over a dozen books on sports, presents in words and pictures 150 years of baseball history, from sandlot ball in the 1850s to the coming of the Dodgers, Giants, Angels, Athletics, and Padres. Here is a stirring, colorfully written narrative about the state that has been the birthplace and proving ground for more major leaguers than any other. With more than 150 photographs of vintage and modern ballplayers and scenes, The Golden Game is not only a richly illustrated and lively read, but also a well-researched reference work that will delight baseball fans and anyone who loves a good story.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly