Sorry, I don't think I'd be much help, I'm still mourning the loss of the
Boston Braves.
Ruth, who thought for years she was named after Babe
At 2:53 PM -0500 1/29/03, Met History wrote:
Cross-posted from H-Urban...
From: Steven A Riess <[log in to unmask]>
I have been invited by a major publisher to edit a 600,000 word
Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Teams. This two-volume reference
work is intended to fill a significant gap in the reference field. While
there are encyclopedias of individual baseball teams, this work will
consist of essays detailing the history of all the current thirty major
league teams. The intent is for the articles to be scholarly, analytical
narratives that go beyond the recounting of team glories year by year. My
aim is to have essays written that not only recount each team's annual
campaigns, their players, and managers, but also provide a social and
economic history of each club. I do not expect these to works of original
research. I'm pretty sure nearly everything one would need to fulfill the
assignment is available in secondary sources. I am looking for essays that
contextualize team histories in the broader picture of sport and the
development of their histories. I am looking for essays that not only
examine the teams' performance on the field, but off the field as well. The
essays will deal in depth with the teams as urban business enterprises that
deal with labor issues, local governments and politicians, and such major
economic matters as the construction of ballparks. Hence an essay on the
White Sox will examine Comiskey's development of his early ballparks, and
will also consider how current owners of the team secured public financing
of the ballpark. In fact, a major issue for the essays since the 1950s
would be the evolving relationship between teams and cities as owners moved
or threatened to move franchises to secure financial support from local
governments. I also hope contributors will consider the particularistic
relationship of a team to their hometowns.
This letter is being sent to baseball experts in NASSH, who comprise a
core, but certainly not all baseball scholars. While this project is
intellectually a feasible and significant project, there are practical
considerations. I am looking to you for some input as to viability. We
know there are a sufficient number of experts to undertake the project, but
there are practical considerations, namely time and money. I am
indicating below the approximate length of contributions as I envision
them, along with compensation. The compensation will include a stipend and
a copy of the two volume work (the encyclopedia will sell for $150 a
volume). The stipends vary depending on the length of the contribution.
Stipends for the longer entries are real money, however, the cash
compensation is certainly far below what each author's input should merit
if I had an unlimited budget. The publisher has budgeted $10,000 for the
thirty entries and $10,000 for visual materials. The author's sole
responsibility is to complete a first-rate essay. All editorial work,
including indexing will be done by the publisher. It would certainly be
possible for authors to split assignments, especially for teams like the
Braves that have moved a lot.
I am not asking anyone to commit themselves to the project, but frankly am
looking for interest or lack of interest. Please contact me if you are
potentially interested. Please contact me if you are not interested and let
me know why.
Steve Riess
Northeastern Illinois University
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Ruth Barton
[log in to unmask]
Westminster, VT
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