The national pastime's rich history and vast cache of statistics have provided fans and researchers a gold mine of narrative and data since the late 19th century. Many books have been written about Major League Baseball's most famous games. This one takes a different approach, focusing on MLB's most historically significant games.

Some will be familiar to baseball scholars, such as the October afternoon in 1961 when Roger Maris eclipsed Babe Ruth's single-season home run record, or the compelling sixth game of the 1975 World Series. Other fascinating games are less well known: the day at the Polo Grounds in 1921, when a fan named Reuben Berman filed a lawsuit against the New York Giants, winning fans the right to keep balls hit into the stands; the first televised broadcast of an MLB game in 1939; opening night of the Houston Astrodome in 1965, when spectators no longer had to be taken out to the ballgame; or the spectator-less April 2015 Orioles-White Sox game, played in an empty stadium in the wake of the Baltimore riots. Each game is listed in chronological order, with detailed historical background and a box score.

“The Games That Changed Baseball is a reference that every scholar who studies sport history should read. Craftily assembled so the reader can read cover to cover or use the table of contents to skip around and read about his or her favorite teams, Robertson and Saunders are to be applauded for their narrative”—Journal of Sport History
“The authors did a great job picking and explaining their choices”—Sports Collectors Digest
“Well researched and presented...fans should check out this book”—Gregg’s Baseball Bookcase

John G. Robertson is a private tutor and sports historian who lives in Cambridge, Ontario. He is the author of numerous books on baseball, hockey and boxing history. Andy Saunders is a baseball buff who hosts trivia shows in his hometown. He lives in Guelph, Ontario.