Jim Chapman’s baseball photography book wins 2024 SABR Larry Ritter Book Award
A treasure trove of baseball photographs from the first two decades of the twentieth century, Jim Chapman’s Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era: Rediscovering the Early Lensmen and Their Indelible Images That Brought the Game from the Field to the Fans, is the winner of the 2024 Larry Ritter Book Award.
The award is granted annually by SABR’s Deadball Era Committee to the author of the best book about baseball between 1901 and 1919 published during the previous calendar year. The winner’s work must demonstrate original research or analysis, a fresh perspective, compelling thesis, impressive insight, accuracy, and clear, graceful prose.
Chapman, who compiled and curated the images from his own personal collection and the collections of fellow baseball photography enthusiasts, meticulously researched and wrote about the photographs and photographers. He designed, edited, and self-published the book.
The volume is not only a visually stunning coffee table book; it is a heavyweight history of the game’s first photographers and the images they captured. The book serves as a definitive reference guide for researchers and collectors.
A SABR member, Chapman resides in Waxahachie, Texas, with his wife Melissa. He serves as the presiding judge of the Elis County Court at Law No. 1, a general jurisdiction trial court.
Conferred annually since 2002, the award is usually presented at the DEC meeting at SABR’s annual convention each summer.
The award winner is selected by the Larry Ritter Book Award Committee, chaired by Doug Skipper, with members Mark Dugo, Ben Klein, Craig Lammers, Mark Pattison, Andrew Milner, Don Jensen, and DEC Chairman John McMurray.
For more information on the Larry Ritter Award, including a list of previous winners, click here.
Originally published: May 28, 2024. Last Updated: May 28, 2024.