Ambassadors in Pinstripes or Timed Readings Plus

Ambassadors in Pinstripes: The Spalding World Baseball Tour and the Birth of the American Empire

Author: Thomas Zeiler

In this lively chronicle of the 1888-1889 Spalding world baseball tour, Thomas Zeiler examines the roots of the post-1898 American empire by analyzing the ways in which the tour drew on elements of globalization to inject American values, and thus, power into the international arena. As Zeiler follows the players on each leg of their journey, he explores important elements of globalization the business ethic, technological innovation, racial hierarchy, attempts at Americanization abroad, and promotion of an exceptionalist identity.

Publishers Weekly

Pro ballplayers playing exhibitions in the distant East, the sport beset by labor strife as management uses cutting-edge technologies to sell the game to an international audience. Sounds like last week, right? How about 1888? The common gripe runs that baseball is now too dominated by business priorities-but according to Zeiler, a history professor at the University of Colorado, things weren't any different 118 years ago. The first great evangelist of baseball, equipment manufacturer Albert Spalding sought to spread the largely eastern and midwestern pastime to every corner of the world, planning a westward winter tour of all-star teams, starting Down Under, then moving to Egypt, and ending with a Grand Tour of Europe. Zeiler's sober academic treatment includes discussions of labor strife, racial hierarchies and what might be called proto-globalism. Even if the subtitle overreaches, isolating the roots of internationalism for our "national" pastime isn't as absurd as it sounds: after all, at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the U.S.A. was outdone by Australia and Italy-both stops on Spalding's tour. (Dec.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Interesting textbook: North American Economic Integration or Commercial Leasing

Timed Readings Plus: Book Four, Vol. 4

Author: Edward Spargo

Do your students fail to even finish a timed test? Do they read word by word? Do they simply move their eyes over the page, neverremembering what they read?

If you suspect that students' test scores are being confounded by any of these traits, or if you have students who need to process greater amounts of information, the Timed Readings books can help.

For over thirty years, Jamestown has been helping students increase their reading rate and fluency while maintaining comprehension.

Timed Readings Plus contains 400-word nonfiction timed passages followed by related fiction passages.

Table of Contents:

To the InstructorHow to Use This Book Part A: Reading Faster and Better Step 1: Preview Step 2: Read for Meaning Step 3: Grasp Paragraph Sense Step 4: Organize Facts Part B: Reading Faster and Better Recognizing Words in Context Distinguishing Fact from Opinion Keeping Events in Order Making Correct Inferences Understanding Main Ideas Timed Readings Plus Lessons Answer Key Graphs Reading Rate Comprehension Score Comprehension Skills Profile