by Laurent Pernot
University of Illinois Press, 2015
eISBN: 978-0-252-09665-5 | Paper: 978-0-252-08028-9
Library of Congress Classification GV875.C6P47 2015
Dewey Decimal Classification 796.357640977311

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
All Cub fans know from heartbreak and curse-toting goats. Fewer know that, prior to moving to the north side in 1916, the team fielded powerhouse nines that regularly claimed the pennant. Before the Ivy offers a grandstand seat to a golden age:

BEHOLD the 1871 team as it plays for the title in nine different borrowed uniforms after losing everything in the Great Chicago Fire


ATTEND West Side Grounds at Polk and Wolcott with its barbershop quartet


MARVEL as superstar Cap Anson hits .399, makes extra cash running a ballpark ice rink, and strikes out as an elected official


WONDER at experiments with square bats and corked balls, the scandal of Sunday games and pre-game booze-ups, the brazen spitters and park dimensions changed to foil Ty Cobb


RAZZ Charles Comiskey as he adopts a Cubs hand-me-down moniker for his team's name


THRILL to the poetic double-play combo of Tinker, Evers, and Chance even as they throw tantrums at umpires and punches at each other


CHEER as Merkle's Boner and the Cubs' ensuing theatrics send the team to the 1908 World Series


Rich with Hall of Fame personalities and oddball stories, Before the Ivy opens a door to Chicago's own field of dreams and serves as every Cub fan's guide to a time when thoughts of "next year" filled rival teams with dread.


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