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THE SUMMER OF BEER AND WHISKEY By: Edward Achorn
PublicAffairs
May 2013
On Sale: April 30, 2013
336 pages ISBN: 1610392604 EAN: 9781610392600 Kindle: B00BOE1DZC Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
Chris Von der Ahe knew next to nothing about baseball when he risked his lifeβs savings to found the St. Louis Browns, the franchise that would become the St. Louis Cardinals. Yet the German-born beer garden proprietor would become one of the most importantβand funniestβfigures in the gameβs history. Von der Ahe picked up the team for one reasonβto sell more beer. Then he helped gather a group of ragtag clubs into a maverick new league that would fight the haughty National League. Sneered at as βThe Beer and Whiskey Circuit,β their American Association ended up revitalizing the sport, bringing Americans of all classes back to the ballpark. Their recipe: Sunday games, booze, 25-cent-tickets, with teams comprised of exciting, renegade, and often drunk, players. Edward Achorn re-creates this wondrous and hilarious world and illuminates a long-forgotten turning point in American baseball history.
 Media BuzzAll Things Considered - April 27, 2013
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