From pioneering superstars like Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby and
Negro League standouts Smokey Joe Williams and Willie Well to
present-day luminaries like Nolan Ryan, Texas has played a crucial role
in the evolution of the national pastime. The Lone Star love of baseball
stretches back to the Civil War. What began as friendly town games led
to the formation of the Texas League in 1888, though it would be almost
eight decades before the arrival of the Colt .45s, Texas's first
major-league team, and another forty-three years until the Astros played
in the World Series. From scrappers on the red dirt diamonds to the
big-league stars of the Astros and Rangers, veteran sportswriter Clay
Coppedge traces the state's long love affair with the sport in this
first-ever comprehensive look at Texas baseball.