{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"307: &quot;Baseball's Wildest Season&quot; - With Bill Ryczek","description":" Sports historian Bill Ryczek (Blackguards and Red Stockings: A History of Baseball's National Association; Crash of the Titans: The Early Years of the New York Jets and the AFL) returns after a five-year absence to help us unpack the intriguing story of 1884 - arguably the wildest season in major league baseball history. In his latest tome, &quot;Baseball's Wildest Season: Three Leagues, Thirty-Four Teams and the Chaos of 1884,&quot; Ryczek details a fragile professional game pioneered by a still-fledgling National League that found itself not only challenged by a two-year-old lower-priced, Sunday-playing, beer-allowing American Association - but also an upstart third circuit called the Union Association whose president just happened to also own its most dominant franchise. 1884 saw the first incarnation of an inter-league &quot;World Series&quot; (the NL Providence Grays defeating the AA New York Metropolitans); the majors' first-ever African-American player (the AA Toledo Blue Stockings' Moses Fleetwood Walker); a (still-standing) record start to a season (the UA's 20-0 St. Louis Maroons) - and more drunken brawls, mid-season team relocations, player league-jumping, and underhand pitching than any time in big league history.  &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; BUY EARLY &amp;amp; OFTEN:    Baseball's Wildest Season: Three Leagues, Thirty-Four Teams and the Chaos of 1884 - by William J. Ryczek Blackguards and Red Stockings: A History of Baseball's National Association - by William J. Ryczek Crash of the Titans: The Early Years of the New York Jets and the AFL - by William J. Ryczek     FIND &amp;amp; FOLLOW:  Website: https:\/\/goodseatsstillavailable.com\/ Twitter: https:\/\/twitter.com\/GoodSeatsStill Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/goodseatsstillavailable\/ Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GoodSeatsStillAvailable\/ YouTube: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@goodseatsstillavailable   ","author_name":"Good Seats Still Available","author_url":"https:\/\/goodseatsstillavailable.com","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/27041184\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/aa0926\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/153368100"}