The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball

Editorial Review:

For the ardent baseball fan, what sets the sport apart--what makes it "the perfect game"--are the treasured memories it evokes of a time gone by. This wonderfully nostalgic visual history celebrates more than 150 years of baseball's--and America's--past. Beginning in the 1840s and continuing through the end of the 20th century, the book and the American Folk Art Museum exhibition that it accompanies capture in portraits, watercolors, carvings, painted sign, lithographs, and a wide variety of everyday objects that are reminders of baseball the way it used to be.

The terracotta frieze from the original Yankee stadium, a hand-painted box office sign from an unidentified late 19th-century ballpark, and life-size carved wood figures are among the highlights of this visual feast for baseball fans, memorabilia collectors, and those who love American folk art and all Americana. Roger Angell, one of the outstanding baseball writers of our age, contributes some of his own cherished reminiscences of the national pastime.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

In the Running for the CASEY Award:

Beautiful photos of baseball folk art and an informative text which discusses the specific pieces of art shown and the artists who created them -something many art books don't do- this book is a treat for baseball fans and art lovers, as well as a deserving CASEY Award Finalist for 2003.

A Delightful Book:

I don't usually buy "art" books, but as a baseball fan I couldn't resist this one. I'm glad that I didn't, since I don't remember when I had so much fun with a book. Page after page surprised, entertained, and informed me. I don't know which I enjoyed more, the illustrations or the text. One intriquing aspect of the book is the way in which it ties the changing folk art and ephemera of baseball to a changing American society.

Would I have enjoyed the book if I weren't a baseball fan? Probably. I lent my... more info

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