Baseball's LOST Tradition - The 1961 - 1962 Season: The Untold Story of Baseball’s First Self-imposed Expansion

Baseball s Lost Tradition is a very interesting concept. I was unaware of the differences between the AL and NL expansion drafts of 61 and 62; and found that to be of particularly interest. Of course 1961 was the first 162 game season, and that, along with the Yankee link between Maris, Mantle, and the game s greatest figure, Babe Ruth, accounts for all the commotion at the time. I found this book to be both interesting and well considered. - Bob Costas, sportscaster and sports talk show host

Baseball's LOST Tradition - The 1961 - 1962 Season: The Untold Story of Baseball s First Self-imposed Expansion is a chronological history of the turmoil and consequences involved in baseball s first self-imposed expansion for the 1961 and 1962 seasons - the problems encountered in forming two ten-team leagues, and the struggles players faced as Major League Baseball replaced the traditional two eight-team leagues. Author Eric Thompson reveals obscure facts regarding baseball s first self-imposed expansion.

For example:

• Which teams were the original expansion teams?
• Did the American League expansion draft and National League expansion draft use the same format for selections?
• What did major league baseball promise the Continental League?
• Was the promise fulfilled? Which league first announced their expansion?
• Did the American League and the National League expand during the same year?

These questions and many more are answered in Baseball's LOST Tradition - The 1961 - 1962 Season: The Untold Story of Baseball s First Self-imposed Expansion.

In the second half of the book Thompson moves beyond the facts and weaves a compelling story with two eight-team leagues playing a traditional 154-game schedule in the fictional Adirondack Valley League. In the style of The Natural and A League of Their Own Thompson weaves facts with fiction and presents player transactions and plausible, detailed statistics are presented for the 1961 and 1962 seasons as if expansion had never taken place.