Big Leagues: : Professional Baseball, Football, and Basketball in National Memory

This collection of nine original essays on America's major spectator sports by the author of Blood and Power contains much information that even dedicated fans are unlikely to know. In the first piece, ``Going Airborne,'' Fox makes the point that all three games increased their popularity when they got the ball off the ground via the home run, forward pass and jump shot. Other chapters examine fandom, the impact of black athletes in speeding up game play and what Fox terms ``National Teams,'' the Yankees of the '20s and '30s, the Green Bay Packers and the Boston Celtics of the '60s. He gives brief but nonetheless comprehensive histories of the three sports and concludes with ``Big Money,'' showing the effects of booze, drugs and unlimited, freely available sex on individuals from economically deprived backgrounds. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (Oct.)