Baseball Rebels: The Players, People, and Social Movements That Shook Up the Game and Changed America

Peter Dreier · Robert Elias

May 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Mike Chamberlain

About this audiobook

Since baseball emerged in the mid-1800s to become America's pastime, the nation's battles over race, gender, and sexuality have been reflected on the playing field, in the executive suites, in the press box, and in the community. Some of baseball's rebels are widely recognized, but most of them are either little known or known primarily for their baseball achievements-not their political views and activism. Everyone knows the story of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color line, but less known is Sam Nahem, who opposed the racial divide in the US military and organized an integrated military team that won a championship in 1945. Or Toni Stone, the first of three women who played for the Indianapolis Clowns in the previously all-male Negro Leagues. Or Dave Pallone, MLB's first gay umpire. Many players, owners, reporters, and other activists challenged both the baseball establishment and society's status quo. Baseball Rebels tells stories of baseball's reformers and radicals who were influenced by, and in turn influenced, America's broader political and social protest movements, making the game-and society-better along the way.

About the author

Peter Dreier is E. P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and founding chair of the Urban and Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College. A former newspaper reporter, community organizer, and senior policy adviser to former Boston mayor Ray Flynn, he has authored or coauthored seven books.

Robert Elias is a professor of politics and legal studies at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of several books, including Baseball and the American Dream: Race, Class, Gender, and the National Pastime.

Mike Chamberlain is an actor and voice-over performer, as well as an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. Along with animation and video game characters, Mike performs narration and voices promos for television. He lives with his wife and daughter in Southern California.

Dave Zirin is the sports editor for the Nation and the author of several books, most recently Brazil's Dance with the Devil. Named one of UTNE Reader's "Fifty Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World," Zirin is a frequent guest on MSNBC, ESPN, and Democracy Now! He hosts WPFW's The Collision with Etan Thomas.