Jules Tygiel

Jules Tygiel

• Born March 9, 1949 in Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Died July 1, 2008 in San Francisco, CA, USA

Biographical Information

Dr. Jules Tygiel was a professor of history at San Francisco State University. He wrote two significant baseball books: Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, published in 1983 remains a classic, not just in the field of baseball research, but in History in general. It is a study of integration in baseball. Past Time: Baseball as History won both the New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2000 and SABR's 2001 Seymour Medal for best book of baseball history or biography.

Tygiel was born and grew up in Brooklyn, NY, graduating from Brooklyn College. He then moved to California and earned his master's and PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mr. Tygiel also wrote frequently on the history of California. He died of cancer in 2008. In 2010, he was one of the first winners of the Henry Chadwick Award.

Further Reading

• Richard Zitrin: "Jules Tygiel", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 39, Number 1 (Summer 2010), p. 131.

Related Sites

• SABR tribute page