Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948, Pie Traynor was the face of Pittsburgh baseball during the twenties and thirties, a time when the Pirates were a perennial pennant contender. (They would win the Series in 1925.) Traynor was a line-drive hitter who drove in runs as effectively with doubles and triples as most of his peers did launching balls over the fence, and by all accounts he was a dazzling defender. After his playing days ended, Traynor stayed in Pittsburgh, managing the Pirates for five years and working as a popular broadcaster for decades, cementing his place as one of the most popular athletes ever to play in the Steel City.

Named a Best Baseball Book of 2020 by Sports Collectors Digest New York Times 2020 Summer Reading List From the day he first stepped into the Yankee clubhouse, Jim Bouton (1939-2019) was the sports world's deceptive revolutionary. Underneath the crew cut and behind the all-American boy-next-door good looks lurked a maverick with a signature style. Whether it was his frank talk about player salaries and mistreatment by management, his passionate advocacy of progressive politics, or his efforts to convince the United States to boycott the 1968 Olympics, Bouton confronted the conservative sports world and compelled it to catch up with a rapidly changing American society. In Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original, Mitchell Nathanson gives readers a look at Bouton's remarkable life. He tells the unlikely story of how Bouton's Ball Four, perhaps the greatest baseball book of all time, came into being, how it was received, and how it forever changed the way we view not only sports books but professional sports as a whole. Based on wide-ranging interviews Nathanson conducted with Bouton, family, friends, and others, he provides an intimate, inside account of Bouton's life. Nathanson provides insight as to why Bouton saw the world the way he did, why he was so different from the thousands of players who came before him, and how, in the cliquey, cold, bottom-line world of professional baseball, Bouton managed to be both an insider and an outsider all at once.

Baseball's spread across Illinois paralleled the sport's explosive growth in other parts of the country. Robert D. Sampson taps a wealth of archival research to transport readers to an era when an epidemic of "base ball on the brain" raged from Alton to Woodstock. Focusing on the years 1865 to 1869, Sampson offers a vivid portrait of a game where local teams and civic ambition went hand in hand and teams of paid professionals displaced gentlemen's clubs devoted to sporting fair play. This preoccupation with competition sparked rules disputes and controversies over imported players while the game itself mirrored society by excluding Black Americans and women. The new era nonetheless brought out paying crowds to watch the Rock Island Lively Turtles, Fairfield Snails, and other teams take the field up and down the state. A first-ever history of early baseball in Illinois, Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins adds the Prairie State game's unique shadings and colorful stories to the history of the national pastime.

When African American first baseman George "Boomer" Scott made his debut in the major leagues in 1966, he took the field for the Boston Red Sox--the last major league team to field a black ballplayer, only seven years before. An eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, a three-time All-Star, and an important member of the Red Sox 1967 Impossible Dream American League Champions, Scott stroked 271 "taters"--a term he coined for home runs that has been memorialized in baseball lexicon. Yet throughout his career, the outspoken player faced an ongoing struggle to gain racial acceptance. This detailed biography chronicles Scott's youth in violently racist Mississippi, his impressive 14-year professional career, and the challenges he faced off the field. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the former slugger, this work celebrates one of Boston's legends and reveals the barriers that still existed for black ball players years after Jackie Robinson paved the way.

For more than a century the owners of baseball franchises conducted their business like feudal barons, with the players in the role of serfs. This situation began to change in 1966, when the Major League Baseball Players Association was formed and Marvin Miller, who had been chief economist and assistant to the president of the steelworkers' union, became its first executive director. Here he recounts his experience in dealing with club owners and his success in winning a new role for the players. He helped virtually end the system that bound an athlete to one team forever, and thereby raised salaries enormously. Candid in his assessments of the characters involved in this drama, Mr. Miller is nonetheless generous in his comments about the ballplayers who made sacrifices for their union.

In the nearly 120-year-history of the New York Yankees, fans have been treated to countless firsts-the first Yankee to hit a home run in the original Yankee Stadium (Babe Ruth), the first to hit a homer in the current stadium (Jorge Posada), the first Cy Young Award winner (Bob Turley), the first to hit for the Triple Crown (Lou Gehrig), and the first to amass 3,000 hits (Derek Jeter). The list goes on. In New York Yankees Firsts, Howie Karpin presents the stories behind the firsts in Yankees history in question-and-answer format. More than a mere trivia book, Karpin's collection includes substantive answers to the question of "who was the first...?" on a variety of topics, many of which will surprise even seasoned fans of the Bronx Bombers.

Of the 17,000-plus players who have donned major league uniforms over the years, not all were particularly nice or ethical. In fact, the actions of a handful were so heinous, they left an indelible mark on the sport. In Baseball's Most Notorious Personalities: A Gallery of Rogues, Jonathan Weeks thoroughly examines this dark side of our National Pastime. Liars, cheats, hotheads, even axe murderers-you'll find them all here in the Gallery. From scapegoats to maniacs, meddling managers to fanatical fans, this book profiles them all. Included are players such as Brooklyn outfielder Len Koenecke, who tried to crash a chartered plane in a maniacal suicide attempt; Ty Cobb, who was known to slide into bases with spikes flying and brawl with anyone who dared oppose him, including an attack on a fan who heckled him from the stands; and Marty Bergen, a talented catcher for the Boston Beaneaters who murdered his family with an axe. These are just a few of the many intriguing individuals found in this volume. Spanning three centuries of baseball-from the 1800s into the current decade-Baseball's Most Notorious Personalities covers various themes of notoriety. Though some of the stories may be familiar to the dedicated baseball enthusiast, even the most die-hard fan will be shocked and surprised by some of the actions of well-known and lesser-known players, managers, fans, and team owners contained in this book. Baseball's Most Notorious Personalities is a fascinating read for all baseball fans and historians.

This book chronicles the history of the Philadelphia Athletics, the first real dynasty in Major League Baseball. The focus of the book is the 1931 season, where Philadelphia, led by is superstar pitcher, Lefty Grove, had the best season in franchise history, leading to a third consecutive trip to the World Series. With a roster full of future Hall of Fame players like Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Connie Mack, and Lefty Grove, the Athletics were one of the best baseball teams of all time, and the 1931 season served as the apex of their success, as the financial restrictions of the Great Depression caused team ownership to break up the team.

An important resource for umpires, coaches, leagues, and serious fans of Major League Baseball (MLB), this handbook lists the dos and don’ts of the national pastime. Fully up-to-date, this book contains the official and sanctioned MLB rules and their interpretations per the Playing Rules Committee, the sole group that determines baseball’s regulations.

More than 5000 major and minor league baseball players left the baseball diamond to serve in the military during World War II, but President Roosevelt insisted that baseball still be played to boost the country's morale. More than 400 replacement players made their major league debuts between 1943 and 1945, among them Sal Maglie, Andy Pakfo, Red Schoendist and Stan Musial. The author of this book points out that the true story of wartime baseball rests mostly with the players who careers were not so well remembered or documented. He highlights nine players - Frank Mancuso, Ford Mullen, Ed Carnett, Lee Pfund, George Hausmann, Cy Buker, Bill Lefebvre, Eddie Basinski, and Nick Strincevich - who took the field while the major leaguers were fighting in the war. They share their memories of being called up to play in the majors, and their feelings about providing much needed and much wanted entertainment to thousands of Americans during the war years.

Red Smith's writing is recognized as the best in the field. Here is a selection of his most memorable columns-175 of them, from 1941 to 1981. His prose...offers lasting lessons about matters journalistic and literary. -Robert Schmuhl, University of Notre Dame. The most admired and gifted sportswriter of his time.... Red Smith's work...tended to be the best writing in any given newspaper on any given day. -David Halberstam, New York Times Book Review

Homer-by-homer, this heavily researched work recounts the inimitable Babe Ruth's finest season. In that magical 1927 season, Ruth blasted homers off 33 different pitchers and hit at least one against every American League opponent. Two hurlers yielded four homers each to the Bambino, while seven pitchers allowed at least three. Interwoven with this recounting is the story of the budding rivalry between Ruth and teammate Lou Gehrig, as the two Yankees matched homers for much of the season. Fresh statistical analyses are provided and boxscores are included for all games in which Ruth hit a home run.

Sabermetrics, the specialized analysis of baseball through empirical evidence, provides an impartial perspective from which to explore the game. In this work, the third in a series, three mathematicians employ statistical science in an attempt to answer some of baseball's toughest questions. For instance, how good were the 1961 New York Yankees? How bad were the 1962 Mets? Which team was the best of the Deadball Era? They also strive to determine baseball's greatest player at various positions. Throughout, the objective evidence allows for debate devoid of emotion and personal biases, providing a fresh, balanced evaluation of these and many other challenging questions.

In March 1871, ten of the United States' most powerful professional baseball clubs met in Brooklyn, New York. Out of that meeting came the sport's first major league: the National Association of Professional Baseball Players. The Philadelphia Athletics, with a record of 21-7, captured the new circuit's first championship. From the National Association through the American League's inaugural season in the final year of the century, this work is a year-by-year statistical history of the teams and players of the nineteenth century's major leagues. The teams are listed by league, with full rosters and complete statistics for each player. An introductory section for each year places the league in historical perspective. Exhaustive team and player indexes are also included.

This vivid portrait of Bart Giamatti encompasses his entire eventful life but focuses especially on his years at Yale University (1966-1986) and his brief career as a major league baseball executive (1986-1989). As scholar, teacher, and then university president, Giamatti was an admired and respected figure on campus. He forged his academic career during turbulent decades, and his tenure in baseball was no less contentious, for as commissioner of baseball he oversaw the banishment of Cincinnati's Pete Rose from the game for gambling. The book draws on Giamatti's numerous writings and speeches to illuminate the character and complexities of the man and to understand the values that motivated his leadership.
Bart Giamatti was a cultural conservative and institutional moderate at a time when such values were out of favor and under attack. At Yale, as a baseball executive, and indeed in all things, Giamatti championed the related values of freedom and order. Robert P. Moncreiff places Giamatti in the context of major events at Yale, recounts in detail the legal context in which the Pete Rose affair unfolded, and arrives at a nuanced understanding of this memorable man's life.

One thing about Max was that he was about as well-adjusted to his disability, if you want to call it that, as anyone could be... He even used his eye once to shut up an obnoxious high school coach. After he'd heard all the complaining he wanted to hear, Max took his eye out of the socket and handed it to the stunned coach, saying, 'You want to umpire this game? Here, be my guest.'" Everything Happens in Chillicothe is an authentic, behind-the-scenes look at the lowest rung of professional baseball, and a biography of Max McLeary, the one-eyed umpire and a most intriguing individual. Author Mike Shannon spent the 2000 Frontier League season attending games with McLeary and gives his account of the season here. The book speaks volumes about umpiring as a profession, relationships (particularly between Max and his estranged son, a minor league player; between Max and his long-suffering wife Patty; and between Max and his umpiring partner Jim Schaly), life in small-town America, and the various people connected with the Chillicothe Paints and other teams in the Frontier League. Many humorous and poignant stories, are told here for the first time, by McLeary, Schaly, and others.

With a line-up that included future Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose, the "Big Red Machine" powered its way to six division titles, four pennants, and two World Series, all in the 1970s. Three other times in that decade they finished second in their division to the eventual pennant winner.

While much has been written about the players and manager Sparky Anderson, no book until now has given adequate attention to the man behind the Machine, general manager Bob Howsam. From his hire in 1967 through the end of his first stint with the Reds in 1978, Howsam brought about a remarkable change in fortune for the Reds, who had claimed only one pennant in the 26 years before his arrival. This detailed history of baseball's last dynasty shows not only how the team performed but why, delving into the off-field strategy and moves behind the Reds' success.

The California Winter League was the first to bring together Negro League teams and white professional teams in one league. It operated from October through February each year from the early part of the century until the late 1940s and generally consisted of one or more Negro League teams, which included Hall-of-Famers Satchel Paige, Turkey Stearnes, Willie Wells, and Cool Papa Bell on their rosters, and three or more white teams, which were made up of major league players who lived in California as well as minor leaguers from the top-rated Pacific Coast League. This work is the first complete history of the California Winter League from its murky beginnings around 1912 to its golden years from 1924 to 1935 to its final demise in the mid 1940s. It provides an overview of the league and the early years of local amateur ball clubs evolving into the semi-professional league on through 1919. It then provides detailed summaries for the official seasons of 1920 through 1947 and accounts of the exciting pennant races between the Negro League teams and the white professional teams. Appendices provide statistical information: league champions season by season, career leaders in many categories such as batting average, home runs, complete games, victories, and shutouts, batting and pitching statistics for each season, and more.

Charge through the turnstiles of this collection of personal stories about baseball s greatest ballpark and the sacred space it occupies in the hearts of Cubs fans and the soul of Wrigleyville. With contributors like Bob Costas, Rick Sutcliffe and Steve Stone, this informal oral history salutes the legacy that has made Wrigley such an unforgettable part of baseball and Chicago for the last century. These one hundred stories reflect the variety of millions of Cubs fans around the world, from those whose relationship with the Friendly Confines has lasted a lifetime to those who are taking their seats up close to the ivy for the very first time.

Since the Boston Red Sox came into existence in 1901, some of the greatest players ever to step onto a baseball diamond have filled its rosters. Starting with Cy Young, the parade of legendary players included Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz, among others. This work profiles 200 of the most memorable players to have donned Boston's red, white and blue. Some, like Williams, enjoyed long, illustrious careers with the Red Sox. Others, like Smokey Joe Wood, shone brightly for only a brief period. Also included are journeymen who became legends as a result of one glorious World Series game, like Bernie Carbo, or players with just one memorable post-season appearance, like Dave Roberts. Together, these legends, idols, and heroes made Red Sox history and forever changed American baseball.

During the more than one hundred years that baseball has been our national pastime, all types of individuals have been managers of teams. They have run the gamut from political appointees to tyrants, schemers, incompetents and geniuses. Legendary baseball stars have been managers such as Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Walter Johnson, Mel Ott, George Sisler, and Honus Wagner. And Mediocre players, including Branch Rickey, Earl Weaver, Walter Alston have become managers. Antics galore have accentuated managerial behavior: the pratfalls of Charley Grimm in the third-base coaching box; the umbrella-carrying Frankie Frisch arguing with the umpires that a game should be called; the cap twisting, body-gyrating movements of Earl Weaver, puffing cigarettes in the dugout and attempting to use body language to will his players to perform better. Idiosyncrasies and special styles have characterized managers through the years. An entire collection of one-liners has developed over the years to characterize the managing profession. For trivia buffs, there's an entire world of statistical records about managers. This books attempts to capture the style and substance of some of the greatest managers of all time. An effort has been made to give representation to the different eras of baseball, the various managing styles, and all the nuances and nostalgia that shape this fascinating subject.

Shortened Seasons recounts the stories of some of the baseball players who never made it back for the next game, who died with the suddenness of a walk-off homerun. For them, there was no next year. From Hall of Fame caliber players such as Roberto Clemente, Thurman Munson, and Ed Delahanty to players who were still finding their niche in the game like Ken Hubbs, Lyman Bostoc, and Darryl Kile, this book explores the lives and deaths of ball players of all categories and abilities who were struck down at the height of their careers.

One of America's greatest third basemen tells the story of his 17 years in baseball, his daily struggle against near-fatal diabetes, and of the lifelong love affair with the Cubs that brought him back to Wrigley Field's broadcast booth 15 years after he played his last game.

Throughout the 2008 season, each game played at the world's most beloved stadium brought "The House That Ruth Built" closer to shutting its gates forever. Players envisioned running off the field one last time. Vendors anticipated selling their last bags of peanuts. Fans readied themselves to raise their voices in one final cheer. In Remembering Yankee Stadium, Harvey Frommer-one of the country's leading baseball authorities-takes us on a journey through the stadium's storied 85-year old history, from 1927's unstoppable Murderers' Row, to Joe DiMaggio's unfathomable hitting streak, to Maris and Mantle's thrilling race for the home-run record, to the hirings-and the firings-of Billy Martin, to Derek Jeter's rise to greatness. The moments and the magic that filled this great stadium are brought alive again through dozens of interviews, a gripping narrative, and a priceless collection of photographs and memorabilia. As the new stadium steps into the forefront, the old ballpark across the street recedes into memory, taking with it the glory and grandeur, the history and heroics, the magic and the mystique of its nearly nine decade-long life. This book captures that time and is at once an album, a keepsake, and a record of its fabulous run.

The New York Yankees were the strongest team in the major leagues from 1948-1960, capturing the American League Pennant 10 times and winning seven World Championships. Ask the average baseball fan who made the Yankees so dominant and most will mention players such as Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, or Mickey Mantle. Some may insist that manager Casey Stengel was the key. But sports pundits at the time, and respected sports historians today consider the real genius behind the Yankees' success their general manager, a portly, often taciturn, and very shy man named George Martin Weiss. Weiss loved baseball but lacked the ability to play the game. What he had was the savvy to run a baseball team better than virtually anyone he competed against. Weiss spent more than 50 years in baseball, including nearly 30 years with the Yankees. Before he was Yankee GM, he created and ran their superlative farm system that continuously supplied talented players to the parent club. When the Yankees fired him at age 67, because he was ""too old"", the newly franchised New York Mets immediately hired him to build their team. This is the first in-depth biography of George M. Weiss, who, when inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1972, was hailed for contributing ""as much to baseball as any man the game could ever know.