The New England League: A Baseball History, 1885-1949

This history-oriented book delves deeply into the thirty-nine seasons of operation as a minor league of the New England League, not only from the baseball aspects but also the region's economic aspects, since they seem to have run parallel with the rise and decline of the textile industry in New England. The book traces the development, ups and downs of the New England League through the many cities that once maintained franchises. The history of the New England League is a wild ride through many epochs of baseball and economic history, which provides a microcosm of a changing America. The history of the New England League is rich in characters, stories, and oddities that occurred on the playing field, which was extensively covered by contemporary newspapers. This book unearths the rich history of the New England League, which lay buried within a mountain of newspaper microfilm lying undisturbed in filing cabinets in libraries across the region. It focuses on the cultural aspects of the league's history and the primary people that shaped results in those areas while bringing life to information that is hidden far beneath the surface of the New England League history. One unique element of the book is the development of the reference sources, as there are virtually no secondary references with extensive writings on the league. The photographs included add more uniqueness to the book, as they have been hidden away in files and have never been published before.