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#TBT Book Review: They Played For The Love Of The Game Untold Stories of Black Baseball In Minnesota

As a good employee I'm here today to cape for a new MNHS Publication.

By HipsterGopher
St. Paul Colored Gophers, 1909
St. Paul Colored Gophers, 1909
National Baseball Hall of Fame

Spoiler alert I haven't read the full book yet. Like I do with most things , upon receiving my copy I scanned it for Gopher related content. U of M fans won't be disappointed. White talks at length about the history of African Americans at the U, from Andrew Hilyer the first black student to graduate in 1882, to the great Bobby Marshall, all the way to Dave Winfield.

Obviously the book focuses on the history of African American Baseball in our state but he really does a interesting job of talking on broader topics. For example I really enjoyed reading his take on the Morrill Hall take over at the U of M in 1969 and it's relationship to sports at the school.

The best part of the book for my money though is the photos. I assume if you're reading my blog pieces you like old photographs, or you're my mother (Hi Mom!). Most of the photos I have never seen before. I won't post them here cuz you really should buy a copy of the book! But if you want more of a preview check out this piece by MPR.

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