Baseball's Funnymen

Baseball's Funnymen
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2017-01-05
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476663580

From Nick Altrock to Casey Stengel, Dizzy Dean to Satchel Paige, Bill Veeck to Bob Uecker, baseball has always admired the clever. This book tells the stories of some of the players, coaches, managers and broadcasters who had the most fun in the Major Leagues and made fans laugh out loud (or shake their heads in disbelief). The author recounts tales both famous and little known that capture the character of unusual and offbeat players, unique and engaging personalities and the succession of eccentrics who were officially dubbed "Clown Prince of Baseball."

Wits, Flakes, and Clowns

Wits, Flakes, and Clowns
Author: Wayne Stewart
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2020-03-11
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1538125226

Throughout the twentieth century, baseball has been blessed with a slew of colorful characters, funny men, and “flakes.” And though many fans lament the apparent vanishing of such players, there are still plenty of characters in the game today. In Wits, Flakes, and Clowns: The Colorful Characters of Baseball, Wayne Stewart brings to life the funniest, craziest, and cleverest men ever associated with the game. From the hilarious but unheralded Casey Candaele and the witty Andy Van Slyke to All-Stars Jimmy Piersall and Bryce Harper, this book shares many never-before-heard stories about some of the most entertaining men in baseball. In addition, this book features quotes from personal player interviews with the author that span decades, providing a personal, inside look at these zany stars. Wits, Flakes, and Clowns is packed with rich and colorful characters and plenty of humor, as well as unexpected insights into the national pastime. It is a celebration of those unique players who keep fans and teammates on their toes, those known for their wit, their pranks, or for doing just about anything for a laugh. Any baseball fan, but especially those who love the humor of the game, will be entertained by the exploits of the game’s most comical players.

Hoyt Wilhelm

Hoyt Wilhelm
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2024-01-16
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476651000

Hoyt Wilhelm's intriguing baseball career lasted two decades. A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, the eight-time All-Star from Huntersville, North Carolina, was a standout for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves, though he did not reach the majors until he was nearly 30. He pitched a no-hitter as a starter, won as many as 15 games a season, was the first reliever to win more than 100 games and save more than 200, and broke Cy Young's record for most games on the mound. Along the way, he relied almost entirely on his baffling skill with a rare weapon of choice--the knuckleball. This first full-length biography covers the life and career of the first relief pitcher in the Hall of Fame.

Caught by Don Hutson!

Caught by Don Hutson!
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2022-10-24
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476646333

Revered pass catcher Don Hutson played for three Green Bay Packers championship squads between 1935 and 1945 and was a charter-class member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. An All-American wide receiver for the University of Alabama, the Pine Bluff, Arkansas, native was a pioneer of the position, mastering the passing game just as it was reaching maturation. Hutson invented many of the pass routes still in use today and retired from the game with 19 NFL records, some of which stood for decades. This first book-length biography chronicles Hutson's life and career during football's leather helmet era of the Great Depression and World War II.

Chuckin' Charlie Conerly and the New York Football Giants

Chuckin' Charlie Conerly and the New York Football Giants
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2023-06-15
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476688044

All-American quarterback Charlie Conerly's college career was interrupted by World War II. He started at University of Mississippi in 1942, fought in the Battle of Guam in 1944, then led Ole Miss to their first conference championship in 1947. He went on to play for the New York Giants from 1948 to 1961, ultimately leading them to an NFL title. A College Football Hall of Famer, Conerly was a professional All-Star and the lynchpin of the Giants offense at time when the team was loaded with Hall of Famers who unduly overshadowed him during his heyday. New York won repeat divisional crowns under the soft-spoken Conerly and participated in the suspenseful, first-ever sudden death NFL title game in 1958. This first-ever full-length biography chronicles his life and career in detail.

Johnny Mize

Johnny Mize
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2022-05-05
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476685932

During his 15-season Major League career, slugger Johnny Mize was among the preeminent power hitters in baseball, a star for the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Giants, and a clutch player for the New York Yankees when they won five straight World Series in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Raised in rural Georgia, Mize caught the tail end of the Cardinals' Gas House Gang era and had his career interrupted by World War II before achieving greatness at the plate. An MVP, perennial All-Star and four-time National League home-run champion, he made a science of batting and wrote a book on it (How to Hit, 1953). This first full-length biography traces the arc of Mize's career through his prime years in the limelight to his retirement, when renewed interest in his legacy saw him inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The Hall: A Celebration of Baseball's Greats

The Hall: A Celebration of Baseball's Greats
Author: The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 936
Release: 2014-05-06
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 0316213039

A deluxe baseball treasury unlike any other, complete with essays, photos, and player bios from The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Everyone dreams of Cooperstown. It's a hallowed name in baseball, for players as well as their fans. It's a house where legends live; it's everything that's great about the game. Never before has the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum published a complete registry of inductees with plaques, photographs, and extended biographies. In this unique, 75th anniversary edition, read the stories of every player inducted into the Hall, organized by position. Each section begins with an original essay by a living Hall of Famer who played that position: Hank Aaron, George Brett, Orlando Cepeda, Carlton Fisk, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Morgan, Jim Rice, Cal Ripken Jr., Nolan Ryan, and Robin Yount.

Lightning Strikes Twice

Lightning Strikes Twice
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476641080

In June of 1938, southpaw Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds became the only pitcher in Major League history to hurl two consecutive no-hitters--an achievement that has stood unsurpassed for more than 80 years. Vander Meer was just 23 at the time and a glorious future was predicted. Despite injuries, he became a four-time All-Star yet ended up a .500 pitcher--not a surefire Hall of Famer as many expected. Both the Reds and Vander Meer persevered, but decades later the left-hander is best remembered for his stunning no-hit package. This volume follows Vander Meer and the Reds through the triumphs of two National League pennants and one World Series title, the hardship of World War II, and the trying suicide of a teammate.

Cy Young

Cy Young
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2020-07-22
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476676828

An early celebrity pitcher, Denton "Cy" Young (1867-1955) established supreme standards on the mound. A small-town Ohio farmer made good, he set Major League pitching records in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that will likely last forever. The winner of 511 games--nearly one hundred more than the second-ranked hurler--Young pitched the first perfect game of the modern era, as well as three no-hitters. His talents helped establish the American League in 1901. Among the Hall of Fame's first inductees, he remained a sought-after interviewee decades after retirement. A year after his death, the Cy Young Award was dedicated as baseball's most prestigious honor for pitchers.

Buffalo Bill Cody

Buffalo Bill Cody
Author: Lew Freedman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2020-09-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1476640068

William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917) rose from humble origins in Iowa to become one of the most famous and most photographed people in the world. He became a leading scout during the American Indian Wars, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and a renowned show business fixture whose traveling Wild West exhibitions played to millions of spectators the world over for 30 years. He hobnobbed with presidents, kings, queens and European heads of state, befriending many legendary individuals of the West, from General George Armstrong Custer and Sitting Bull to Wild Bill Hickok and Annie Oakley. Aside from these achievements, Cody's most important legacy may be how he shaped the world's enduring views of the American West through his shows, which he considered to be educational events rather than entertainment. This biography is a fresh look at the life of Buffalo Bill.