Minor League Bookshelf: Cradle of the Game: Baseball and Ballparks in North Carolina

This looks like an interesting book about one of the historical hotbeds of minor league baseball, North Carolina. From the publisher:

Baseball in North Carolina today and its glorious history are richly detailed in Cradle of the Game: Baseball and Ballparks in North Carolina, by Mark Cryan. The comprehensive 400-page volume exploring minor-league and leading college ballparks – large and small – will entertain readers interested in Tar Heel state baseball history, and serve as a guide to visitors of today’s ballparks.

Book author Mark Cryan has many years of North Carolina baseball experience, starting out in the business by working for legendary minor league executive Miles Wolff. Highlights of the book include interviews with Wolff who talks about his involvement in making the ultimate baseball movie - Bull Durham, and with legendary manager Jack McKeon reflecting on life in the game.

Wolff wrote the forward for Cradle of the Game where he commented, “Mark Cryan’s book will give the reader a great picture of baseball in the Tar Heel state.”

“I’m thrilled to be able to share my love for baseball in this great state with the readers of this book,” said author Mark Cryan. “There’s no place in the entire country that has such a depth of history, significance to the game, and such great stories and people. That’s what makes baseball in North Carolina so special.”

Cryan was instrumental in setting up the summer collegiate Coastal Plain League and is a former General Manager of the Burlington (NC) Indians. He currently works as Athletic Director for the Burlington Recreation & Parks Department, and serves as an adjunct professor at Elon University.

As Wolff noted in his forward, baseball has been woven into the fabric of North Carolina for well over a century. This smartly illustrated book offered by August Publications can serve as a travel guide, but offers far more by bringing to life the unique qualities of baseball in North Carolina.

Cradle of the Game is a 6 x 9 paperback, 400 pages, and costs $18.95. It is available through August Publications' website or call 877-343-5207. It is also available through Amazon.com.