The Golden Game

"Kevin Nelson's The Golden Game is the rare baseball book that transcends its regional emphasis to earn a place on the shelf of anyone who loves the game."
—San Francisco Chronicle

The Golden Game: The Story of California Baseball, by Kevin Nelson, was named one of the top ten books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, National Public Radio, and many others. It was featured on NBC's Today Show as one of the must-read books of the summer, and named as a national finalist for the prestigious Seymour Prize, awarded annually to the best baseball book of the year.

"Nelson's wholly charming and endearing book," writes the Los Angeles Times, "allows us to see baseball as a kind of benchmark for the birth and growth of California over the last century and a half." Sports Illustrated, Publishers Weekly,  Sacramento Bee, California Journal, Long Beach Press Telegram, Oakland Tribune, and Foreword Magazine all joined this chorus of praise.

In the words of one reviewer, The Golden Game is "a lively, remarkably comprehensive account, full of wonderful tales and anecdotes" about California baseball and all the remarkable personalities—Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Casey Stengel, Billy Martin, and so many more—that have played leading roles in its history.

Beginning in 1849 with the journey of Alexander Cartwright, "the father of baseball," from New York to California to seek fortune in the gold mines of the Sierra, The Golden Game tells the story of how California baseball grew and evolved, ending in the 1950s and '60s with the arrival of the major league Dodgers and Giants in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and then with the establishment of the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, and San Diego Padres.

"There are nuggets galore to be found in the mining of California's rich baseball heritage," wrote retired broadcaster Hank Greenwald in the foreword. "Fortunately, Kevin Nelson has dug them up for us." Some of those nuggets include stories about the early years of Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams, all of whom grew up in the state; the birth of the friendship between Casey Stengel and Billy Martin; the bitterly controversial saga of how the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles; how Ernest Thayer came to write the immortal poem, "Casey at the Bat;" the vivid and poignant Japanese American baseball experience; California's role in the infamous Black Sox Scandal; Babe Ruth, the movies and baseball; the creation of the Pacific Coast League and its impact on major league baseball; and much, much more.

KVIE-TV of Sacramento created an original documentary inspired by The Golden Game, focusing on the origins and growth of baseball in the Sacramento area. Featuring interviews with Kevin Nelson and others, “The Golden Game: Baseball in Sacramento” has been shown around the U.S. and can be seen in its entirety here. You can also read an Excerpt from the Introduction to The Golden Game on CaliforniaAuthors.com.

The Golden Game has more than 150 photographs. Published in 2004 by Heyday Books and the California Historical Society Press. 380 pages. ISBN 1-890771-80-5.