David Block has 2 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 2 narrators. The most-rated is Baseball before We Knew It.
Pastime Lost
Summary
Long before baseball became America’s national pastime, English citizens of all ages, genders, and classes of society were playing a game called baseball. It had the same basic elements as modern American baseball, such as pitching and striking the ball, running bases, and fielding, but was played with a soft ball on a smaller playing field and, instead of a bat, the ball was typically struck by the palm of the hand. There is no doubt, however, that this simpler English version of baseball was the original form of the pastime and was the immediate forerunner of its better-known American offspring. Strictly a social game, English baseball was played for nearly two hundred years before fading away at the beginning of the twentieth century. Despite its longevity and its important role in baseball’s evolution, however, today it has been completely forgotten. In Pastime Lost David Block unearths baseball’s buried history and brings it back to life, illustrating how English baseball was embraced by all sectors of English society and exploring some of the personalities, such as Jane Austen and King George III, who played the game in their childhoods. While rigorously documenting his sources, Block also brings a light touch to his story, inviting us to follow him on some of the adventures that led to his most important discoveries. The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks. "Will entertain and enlighten baseball aficionados and any who are fascinated by bat and ball games." (Choice) "Makes for an excellent combination of information and entertainment that is sure to please any reader." (Lance Smith, Guy Who Reviews Sports Books) “You must read this awesome, indispensable book.”(John Thorn, official historian of Major League Baseball)
©2019 David Block (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks
Baseball before We Knew It
Summary
It may be America's game, but no one seems to know how or when baseball really started. Theories abound, myths proliferate, but reliable information has been in short supply - until now, when Baseball before We Knew It brings fresh new evidence of baseball's origins into play. David Block looks into the early history of the game and of the 150-year-old debate about its beginnings. He tackles one stubborn misconception after another, debunking the enduring belief that baseball descended from the English game of rounders and revealing a surprising new explanation for the most notorious myth of all - the Abner Doubleday - Cooperstown story. Block's book takes listeners on an exhilarating journey through the centuries in search of clues to the evolution of our modern National Pastime. Among his startling discoveries is a set of long-forgotten baseball rules from the 1700s. Block evaluates the originality and historical significance of the Knickerbocker rules of 1845, revisits European studies on the ancestry of baseball which indicate that the game dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and assembles a detailed history of games and pastimes from the Middle Ages onward that contributed to baseball's development. In its thoroughness and reach, and its extensive descriptive bibliography of early baseball sources, this audiobook is a unique and invaluable resource - a comprehensive and reliable account of baseball before it was America's game.
©2005 David Block (P)2014 Audible Inc.