From the moment of its inception, the quintessentially American sport of baseball has included cheating. Sometimes that rule-skirting is embraced as ingenious hijinks; other times, reviled as an unforgivable trespass. But what exactly is the difference? Why is skipping bases less egregious than signing underage players? Is sign-stealing evidence of ingenuity, or does it fundamentally change the nature of the game?
In Intentional Balk, nationally-recognized baseball historians Dan Levitt and Mark Armour examine cheating in baseball as the pursuit of a competitive edge that in other endeavors might be heralded as innovation. Wherever you come down on the question, Intentional Balk offers an engrossing chronicle of America's pastime and the players, coaches, groundskeepers and management who for more than 150 years have sought any advantage to win at all costs.

Dan Levitt is one of baseball's best-known commentators on owners, general managers, and managers, combining a historical, scholarly, and fan understanding of teams, managers, players, and pennants. He has won multiple book awards and is an occasional MLB Network TV guest commentator. He is the recipient of the highest award of the Society for American Baseball Research, the prestigious Bob Davids Award. In 2017 Dan won SABR's Chadwick Award, a lifetime achievement award honoring baseball's great researchers-historians, statisticians, and archivists-for their invaluable contributions to making baseball the game that links America's present with its past. Dan has written four critically acclaimed books and dozens of essays illuminating the important role managers, general managers, team owners, and players share in shaping not just baseball teams but baseball culture, history--and the game itself. Levitt's formidable knowledge and nuanced attention to detail can dramatically enhance any fan's love of the game. He is a regular speaker at SABR's annual convention, the NINE Spring Training Conference, and has presented at the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture.Levitt also authored "The Battle That Forged Modern Baseball: The Federal League Challenge and Its Legacy," winner of the 2013 Larry Ritter Award. In the Dallas Morning News Allen Barra wrote: "The Battle That Forged Modern Baseball is one of the most important historical baseball works so far this century." Levitt was the editor of SABR's 2012 book "Short but Wondrous Summers: Baseball in the North Star State," a journal of Minnesota baseball history issued in conjunction with the 2012 national convention. He has also written dozens of articles for publication on topics ranging from baseball history to statistics. At his day job Dan Levitt brings more than 25 years of real estate experience and capital investment expertise to his role as Senior Vice President at Ryan Companies US. Over the last five years, his team has managed dispositions, financings, acquisitions, and joint ventures valued at more than $8 billion. More on Dan can be found at http://daniel-levitt.com/