[Robert M. Gorman,David Weeks]Death at the Ballpark: A Comprehensive Study of Game-Related Fatalities of Players, Other Personnel and Spectators in Amateur and Professional Baseball, 1862-2007(pdf){Zzzzz}

Despite whizzing fastballs and screaming line drives, baseball today is not especially dangerous. But over the game's history, hundreds of players, coaches, and spectators have died at the ballpark. This ground-breaking study covers nearly 150 years of game-related fatalities. Providing the known details for each death, the authors also identify contributing factors and discuss changes to playing rules, protective equipment, crowd control, stadium structure, and the grounds themselves. Chapter topics include pitched- and batted-ball fatalities, weather and field condition accidents, structural failures, violence or risky behavior fatalities, and deaths from natural causes.

Publisher: McFarland (November 10, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 078643435X
ISBN-13: 978-0786434350

Editorial Reviews
Review
"Fascinating account." --Charlotte Observer

"Recommended." --Library Journal

"The definitive account of baseball fatalities." --S.L. Price, Sports Illustrated
From the Publisher
Winner, Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Remarkable...for any serious baseball fan
By L. R. Mitlin on February 19, 2009
The care taken in this ground-breaking work is obvious. The authors scoured newspaper accounts of every baseball fatality they could identify since the earliest days of the sport. Their research did not stop with the pros but went all the way to the youth leagues and sandlots. Especially valuable is how they double-checked every incident, finding that many nationally-reported deaths did not actually occur.

Their findings demonstrate the value of protective equipment. For example, deaths by pitched ball have almost disappeared.

While not the kind of book to be read cover-to-cover at one sitting, the baseball fan will find himself picking it up again and again. I highly recommend it. (I bought three copies--one for myself and two to give as gifts.)


Excellent research
By Timothy J. Wiles on December 5, 2008
Gorman and Weeks have created an excellent baseball research book. They document thousands of fatalities related to the game--deaths of players, personnel, umpires, and fans. The subject matter is treated respectfully and in fact the book is dedicated to the victims and their families. Extensively footnoted and indexed, this book tells the stories of all those who have died at the ball park. The index includes names and places, so you can find out if anyone died in a baseball related death in your hometown. ALL sources are listed. An excellent reference book and a triumph of difficult research.