In this delightful history of the sport, Frommer captures the flavor,
smell, and craziness of the early days of baseball. Starting with its
invention in 1842 by the descendant of a British sea captain (and not
Abner Doubleday), Frommer traces the development of the sport from the
first games on a vacant lot at 27th and Madison in New York to the turn
of the century, when the National League was emerging as the preeminent
forum for truly professional baseball.