The nineteenth century was a time of rapid growth and development for the game of “base ball,” and players George Wright and Albert Spalding were right in the thick of it. These two young men, the first superstars of the professional game, won the hearts of a country in search of a unifying spirit after a devastating civil war.

Selling Baseball: How Superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding Impacted Sports in America breathes fresh energy into baseball’s beginnings with this captivating tale of two vibrant personalities whose friendly rivalry was integral to the rise of the professional game. While they came from starkly different backgrounds—Albert was a young, gangly pitcher from the country’s rural heartland and George the consummate athlete from the New York City area—their captivating performances on the field, along with their promotion of the game and of sports equipment, fed the public’s insatiable appetite for leisure-time pursuits and helped grow professional baseball to unprecedented heights.

George Wright and Albert Spalding’s stories are masterfully woven together to paint a sweeping picture of the early days of professional baseball, the evolution of sports as a business, and the advancement of sports equipment and the sporting goods industry. Their rise as players and businessmen mirrored the rise of a nation that would lead the world in the coming century.

Jeffrey Orens is the author of The Soul of Genius: Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and the Meeting that Changed the Course of Science which was favorably reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Science, and other outlets, including a starred Booklist review. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and his work has appeared in History Magazine, True West Magazine, and other historical publications. Orens resides in New Jersey.

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