Writing Baseball: The First All-Star Game
Featured writers: Randall Sullivan and Joe Kilgallon
Acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan tells the story of baseball in America, from its rough-and-tumble origins through the first decades of the twentieth century and into the pivotal summer of 1933—when national crisis and a sport’s fight for survival converged in baseball’s first All-Star Game in Chicago. Sullivan is interviewed by comedian Joe Kilgallon.
Book signing times (all signings take place by the front desk at the AWM)
🖊️Randall Sullivan: 2:00 – 2:30
About the writers:
Described by the Chicago Tribune as having “a straight shooting, pull-no-punches style,” JOE KILGALLON has performed at clubs and colleges all over America. He’s been a personal opener for stars such as Hannibal Buress, Roy Wood Jr., and Matteo Lane. Joe has released 3 albums that have all debuted #1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts! Joe has appeared in NBC’s Chicago Med and was a segment producer on MTV’s Ridiculousness.
RANDALL SULLIVAN was a contributing editor to Rolling Stone for over twenty years. He is the author of Graveyard of the Pacific, Dead Wrong, The Price of Experience, LAbyrinth, The Miracle Detective, and Untouchable. His work has been published in, among many other places, Wired, Esquire, Outside, Men’s Journal, Washington Post, and the Guardian. He lives in Oregon.

The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR, and America at the Crossroads
by Randall Sullivan
Deeply researched and filled with remarkable characters—legendary players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Lefty Grove rubbing shoulders with Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, and Charles Lindbergh—Randall Sullivan explores the history of an American obsession and captures the moment when both the sport and the nation found renewal in a single spectacle of hope.
