February 21, 2002 For more information: Frank R. Scatoni 619-807-1887 frank@ventureliterary.com "No Kill Date" Venture Literary Sells World Rights for Baseball Integration Book to Contemporary/McGraw-Hill On February 20, 2002, Greg Dinkin and Frank R. Scatoni, representing Brad Snyder, sold World rights to Beyond the Shadow of the Senators to Matthew Carnicelli at Contemporary Books, a division of McGraw-Hill Books. In Beyond the Shadow of the Senators, Snyder, a former Baltimore Sun sportswriter, reveals that the integration of baseball actually started in Washington, D.C., and not in Brooklyn, New York. He recounts the fascinating story of the lost era of baseball between 1935 and 1947, when Ruth retired and Robinson smashed the color barrier by signing with Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers. It’s the story of why the fight to integrate baseball began in Washington and ended in Brooklyn, why Black Washington ultimately lost the fight, and why the Washington Senators–the team most primed for integration–were not the first team to employ a black ballplayer. It is also the story of Sam Lacy, a crusading black journalist who fought doggedly for integration; Buck Leonard, the "black Lou Gehrig," who helped the cause of all black players on and off the field; Josh Gibson, the Negro leagues’ most celebrated slugger; and Clark Griffith, the stubborn owner of the Washington Senators, who thwarted integration at every twist and turn. And, of course, it’s the story of the greatest baseball dynasty most people have never heard of–the Homestead Grays, the Negro leagues’ most successful franchise. At the Baltimore Sun, Snyder covered the Baltimore Orioles for two seasons and wrote a 14-part series on Cal Ripken. In college, Snyder wrote about ACC athletics for the Washington Post and worked as a research assistant on two of best-selling author John Feinstein’s sports books: Hard Courts and Play Ball. In 1994, Snyder wrote about the Homestead Grays and the black community of Washington, D.C., while a student at Duke University–his senior thesis won the prestigious William P. Laprade Prize from the university’s history department. Snyder is a 1999 graduate of Yale Law School. To learn more about Venture Literary, visit: www.ventureliterary.com. To learn more about McGraw-Hill Books, visit: www.books.mcgraw-hill.com.