Review of "The National League: A History," by Joel Zoss and John S. Bowman

 Review of

The National League: A History, by Joel Zoss and John S. Bowman ISBN 083176757x

Five out of five stars

Entertaining history of the “senior circuit.”

 The National League of major league baseball traces its’ roots back to 1876, when it was called the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The United States had emerged from the Civil War and baseball was a game that the soldiers played for recreation and exercise. The nation was also transitioning to a more urban demographic, providing more population centers that could support professional teams. The American League was founded 25 years later, and the National League is the world’s oldest extant professional team sports league.

 Many of the greatest players, managers and owners have been a part of the National League and it was in the National League that the first black man played in the major leagues in the twentieth century. This is their story, and like all long stories, there are many great moments and some that were not so great.

 Some of the worst moments came in Jackie Robinson’s rookie year with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Ironically, and even Robinson admitted this, he was not the best player in the Negro leagues, just the best choice for the process of integration.

 The cast of characters that played and coached in the National League runs from substance abusers, takers of performance enhancing drugs to gamblers to men that just loved the game. In some men, they covered more than one of these bases. This is their story, a sequential look at the oldest continually operating professional sports league.