Mike Vaccaro - The First Fall Classic

Mike Vaccaro in his book, The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, The Giants, and the Cast of Players, Pugs, and Politicos Who Reinvented the World Series in 1912, relives what he believes to be the first real World Series. Obviously the year is 1912 and baseball is still a relatively new thing, at least in the big scheme of things.

Amazing thing about this book is baseball is still baseball. Reading the book is just like reading a World Series in any other year. The only difference is the gamblers and the cheap seats ; ). Either way I thought this was an interesting read. Interesting to see how betting was pretty integral to the game. One thing I have always thought was weird was how football has embraced the betting aspect and how because of it, football is such a popular sport. Interesting to see how betting plays a role and of course we see the eventual outcome of it when the Black Sox throw the series a few years later. Wonder if football would take a hit in this day and age if it ever came to light that the NFL threw a game because of betting?