{"product_id":"a-g-spalding-and-the-rise-of-baseball-the-promise-of-american-sport-9780195042207","title":"A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball: The Promise of American Sport","description":"\u003cp\u003eA. G. Spalding was a key figure in the professionalization and commercialization of American sports. Co-founder of baseballs National League  owner of the Chicago White Stockings (later Cubs)  and founder of a sporting goods business that made him a millionaire  Spalding not only willed baseball to be our national pastime but also contributed to making sport a significant part of American life. This biography captures the zest  flamboyance  and creativity of Albert Goodwell Spalding  a man of insatiable ego  a showman and entrepreneur  whose life illuminated the hopes and fears of 19th-century Americans. It is also a vivid evocation of the vanished world of 19th-century baseball  recreating a time when it was transformed from a game played on unkempt fields to modern style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648177004597,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195042204","price":37.09,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195042207.jpg?v=1781711800","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/a-g-spalding-and-the-rise-of-baseball-the-promise-of-american-sport-9780195042207","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}