Diamonds in the Coalfields: 21 Remarkable Baseball Palyers, Managers, and Umpires from Northeast Pennsyvania

with a great background already towards pennsylvania history. bill kashatus brings to life a compelling tale about the area's coal history & it's fabric culturally. easy to read with lots of pictures & statistics giving great cultural & baseball information.

"Diamonds in the Coalfields" is a documentary of life in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. William Kashatus has done an excellent job of organizing the history of the mining communities, from a perspective of how baseball affected everyone's lives in those happy, glorious years. You can get an estimate of his effort by looking at his detailed reference notes and bibliography at the back of the book. He has devoted a huge amount of time in research and interviews in the writing of this book. The accuracy of his descriptions is uncanny, for a person who did not "live it", except vicariously, through the eyes of others. My father pitched for the Glen Lyon Condors, in the 1920's. I lived through the era of Zig Najaka, Stan Pawloski, and Bob Duliba, at Newport Twp. High School. This is a personalized view of early baseball history, a meaningful picture for all baseball fans. My complments to William Kashatus for giving us such an accurate picture of those happy times in our lives. He has done a great job of documentation with an entertaining accent to this portrayal of life in the coal towns. I am purchasing additional books for my uncle, brother-in-law, and three sons, who also share an interest in the nostalgia for sports in the Wyoming Valley. (Pennsylvnia)