{"product_id":"death-in-the-strike-zone","title":"Death In The Strike Zone By Thomas W. Gilbert","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHe threw the first fastball. The first curveball. He was baseball’s first star—and its first tragedy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\nIn \u003ci\u003eDeath in the Strike Zone\u003c\/i\u003e, acclaimed historian Thomas W. Gilbert uncovers the forgotten life of James Creighton, the first American ballplayer to become a national sensation. On the eve of the Civil War, Creighton invented something utterly new in baseball – modern pitching. Creighton was so dominant, so mesmerizing, that the game had to rewrite the rulebook to catch up with him. He is the reason we have a strike zone. Then, in one fateful game he collapsed—and four days later, he was dead at the age of twenty-one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\nWas it a freak injury or was baseball somehow to blame? Was there a cover-up?  Why has Creighton been denied the credit he deserves? \u003ci\u003eDeath in the Strike Zone\u003c\/i\u003e is part biography, part detective story, and part time machine. With vivid storytelling and groundbreaking research, Gilbert revives a vanished era of barehanded fielders, heroes and gamblers, and the strange, thrilling beginnings of America’s pastime and sports stardom itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003ci\u003eDeath in the Strike Zone\u003c\/i\u003e is a remarkable journey into the past that will keep you on the edge of your seat and profoundly change how you see the game of baseball.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57683673907582,"sku":"NW9781567927597","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781567927597.jpg?v=1784002640","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/en-usa\/products\/death-in-the-strike-zone","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}