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utbw42's review
3.0
A well-researched and very interesting presentation on the origins of baseball in this country, and how our country in the early 20th century was ready and willing to believe a strongly patriotic, and patently false, version of this creation of our National Pasttime. Abner Graves, an avid businessman from Cooperstown, sent his "version" of the creation of baseball, which lavishly told of Abner Doubleday and his "invention", to A.G. Spalding via an article in the Akron Beacon. The tale then took a life of its own, and many even now still believe in the Cooperstown origin of the game. Since other versions are presented as well, this book ultimately comes to the conclusion that the origins of baseball may truly never be known. My only criticism of the book is the painstaking detail the author presents on Abner Graves, Adam Ford, and other subjects that don't seem very relevant to the overall argument. This bogs the book down, but reader perseverance will be rewarded with the last 40-50 pages.
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