Please join us on February 4 for a very special event: the book launch for award-winning Haslett author and baseball historian Peter Morris’s new book, But Didn’t We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball’s Pioneer Era, 1843-1870.  Morris is the author of four previous distinguished works of baseball history, including A Game of Inches, winner of the CASEY Award and the Seymour Medal, and Baseball Fever, which also won the Seymour Medal and was selected as a Michigan Notable Book.

     In his new book, Morris tells the story of the first generation of baseball enthusiasts -- the mid-nineteenth-century pioneers who transformed baseball from a boy’s game into a professional sport -- in an entirely new way.  Rather than putting words in their mouth, he has culled hundreds of previously unpublished journals and reminiscences to give these extraordinary men the opportunity to speak for themselves.  The result is an extraordinary work in which these men speak poignantly about the enormous effort that it took just to manufacture a baseball or to hew out a playing field, about how much belonging to a baseball club meant to them, about what they thought of the changing rules and the coming of professionalism, about the special moments on the diamond that stayed with them for the rest of their lives, and most of all about how they came to love baseball.  As renowned baseball historian Donald Honig puts it, “To read this book is to see Baseball emerging from its womb and blinking its eyes and stretching its arms as it begins to take shape and through trial and error grows into its remarkable and compelling existence.”

      To celebrate the release of this book, Everybody Reads (2019 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing) will be hosting a special book launch party on the evening of Monday, February 4.  Festivities will begin around 6:30, highlighted by a special dramatic presentation based upon the book at 7:00 p.m. that will feature vintage (mid-nineteenth-century) “ballists” in their authentic period costume.  Many other special guests will be on hand and of course it wouldn’t be a party without plenty of complimentary food and drinks.   Naturally, there will be the chance to meet the author and get your own personally signed copy of But Didn’t We Have Fun?  Whether you’re a diehard baseball fan, a history buff or just someone who loves a good read, this is an event you won’t want to miss!

 Other Blurbs for But Didn’t We Have Fun?

"Abner Doubleday just struck out. If you ever wondered where baseball came from—really came from—this story is for you. It's the real story of how America's game is much more about America than it is about a game. Entertaining and informative, I think Morris is headed for another medal."—Will Carroll, author of The Juice: The Real Story of Baseball's Drug Problems

"If you think baseball's rich history begins with the American League in 1901, or with the National League in 1876, or even with the National Association in 1871, think again. Thanks to Peter Morris, now we know that the game's pioneer days—the nearly four decades prior to the first professional league'—might have been the richest of them all."—Rob Neyer, ESPN.com baseball columnist

"I first heard about Peter Morris because he was one of America's preeminent Scrabble players. Now he has achieved an even greater distinction: one of America's preeminent baseball historians. But Didn't We Have Fun? is exhaustively researched and artfully written—an invaluable contribution to the early history of our sport and our country."—Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players and Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America's Heartland

“An intriguing study for students of baseball history curious about how aspects of the game developed, such as the foul ball, sliding, balls and strikes, and the role of the umpire. As the game spread from its origins in New York and its popularity grew, Morris writes that two factors brought the pioneer era of amateur play to an end: the Civil War and the increasing seriousness of players who changed games from ceremonial pastime to cutthroat competitions. Morris has done vast research and quotes many of his sources at length.” Publishers Weekly