A League of His Own

A.G. Spalding and the Business of Baseball

Mark A. Stein

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

The Lyons Press
15 November 2025

Biography: sport; Baseball

Albert Goodwill Spalding became the initial star pitcher of the first professional sports association, cofounded baseball’s National League, founded the world’s greatest sporting goods empire, owned the team that became the Chicago Cubs, organized an around-the-world tour to promote baseball, broke the first players union, and crushed three rivals of the National League before retiring to San Diego. A monopolist in true Gilded Age fashion, he sought to create a bicycle trust even as he battled advocates of a baseball trust.

A moralist who railed against alcohol and gambling, he sired a child with a long-time mistress. He was a man of many firsts in the fields in which he competed: the highest winning percentage as pitcher, first player to receive a percentage of gate receipts, the first player to openly wear a glove while playing (and, by virtue of his status, to make it acceptable for other players to wear gloves), the captain of the first NL champion, the founder of the first vertically integrated sporting goods firm, the first to build a chain of specialty retail stores, the first leader of the U.S. Olympic movement. This is the firstcomprehensive biography of Albert Goodwill Spalding’s fascinating life, including his compulsion to put his name on every ball, racquet, discus, bicycle, football, bat, hat, and mask his company produced.

By: Mark A. Stein
Imprint: The Lyons Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781493077656
ISBN 10: 1493077651
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 15 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Mark Stein has worked for more than three decades as a reporter and editor at The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Bloomberg News, specializing in long-form feature and investigative articles. He shared a 1993 Pulitzer Prize for reporting about 1992 riots in Los Angeles, and then cowrote a book, Understanding the Riots: Los Angeles Before and After the Rodney King Case. He also worked with Anthony Bianco on his 1996 book The Bully of Bentonville: How the High Cost of Wal-Mart’s Everyday Low Prices Is Hurting America. Mark was raised in Santa Barbara, Calif., and has lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. He currently lives near New York City with his wife and sons.

Reviews for A League of His Own: A.G. Spalding and the Business of Baseball

""If Spalding's story begins modestly in a log cabin in tiny Byron, Illinois, its unfolding will resonate with modern-day readers... A long-overdue accounting of one of baseball's seminal figures.""-- ""Booklist"" ""Mark Stein is a gifted storyteller and this tale of A.G. Spalding, in addition to being a most entertaining read taking us to wonderful games, strikes at the root of the sport and teaches us much about what is right and what is wrong with it today. All baseball fans should read this book.""--Mark Kurlansky, American journalist international bestselling author ""Stein crafts a very solid biography that contains an impressive analysis of Spalding's baseball impact with elevated cultural impact, provides a revelatory assessment of the man's character, utilizes above-average quality research material, and presents the biographical narrative in a meaningful writing style... A League of His Own: A. G. Spalding and the Business of Baseball is certain to generate renewed interest in Spalding's existential contributions to baseball history during the National League's 150th anniversary season in 2026.""-- ""Bevis Baseball Research""