{"product_id":"the-gilt-edge-of-ambition-a-sportsmans-gamble-for-power-and-baseball-1","title":"The Gilt Edge of Ambition: A Sportsman's Gamble for Power and Baseball","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA gripping story of ambition, vice, and the birth of professional baseball in California.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the closing years of the nineteenth century, Sacramento was a city of gaslight and grit—its streets lined with gambling halls, saloons, and the restless energy of a place still inventing itself. At the center of it stood Ed Kripp: gambler, promoter, and architect of one of California’s earliest baseball dynasties.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Gilt Edge of Ambition\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e follows Kripp’s rise as he led his club to an unprecedented run of pennants and built Buffalo Park; navigating a world where deals were struck in back rooms and fortunes turned overnight. Baseball, in this moment, was not yet a settled institution—it was spectacle, business, and risk, all at once.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs the twentieth century approached and the glow of gas lamps gave way to a more ordered age, the game—and the city—began to change. Informal power gave way to structure, and the chaotic world that had made Kripp possible slowly receded.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDrawing on extensive archival research, Lisa Jonsson brings to life a forgotten era when ambition was raw, the rules were unwritten, and modern California was just beginning to take shape.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBased on more than five hundred primary sources, this narrative brings a lost chapter of California history vividly to life.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books Prime","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45916538110143,"sku":"38252ec7-a754-4e24-a990-7c914bc29f64","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/7550\/7647\/files\/d5facc00c87dba1a9db6e758e9643372.jpg?v=1785090340","url":"https:\/\/books-prime.com\/products\/the-gilt-edge-of-ambition-a-sportsmans-gamble-for-power-and-baseball-1","provider":"Books Prime","version":"1.0","type":"link"}