Larceny and Old Leather

Larceny and Old Leather is baseball at its best and worst-a unique, informative and often humorous glimpse into some of the secret and not-so-secret dirty tricks, thefts, vaudeville pranks and just plain cheating that dot the long, colourful history of America's most beloved game. The storied shenanigans of baseball include many kinds of mischief in a century-old legacy of corked bats, spitballs, grease balls, hidden balls, outright spying where, it seems, almost everything can be stolen - from bases and signs to games, batting titles, court decisions and much more. Larceny and Old Leather shows how baseball fans have a considerable tolerance for the bizarre, not to say devious, behaviour of their heroes: from the nasty Ty Cobb to Roger Maris (asterisk and all) and Pete Rose's memory lapses. (Listen, nobody's perfect.) The inclination of baseball fans to cut some slack for their heroes makes them unique among sports aficionados. Here is a book for both seasoned baseball fans and neophytes who'd like to get a look at the game that evolved into an industry-one with unique perks in the world of sports or, for that matter, in any other universe of commerce.