Before Major League Baseball was racially integrated there was a period when some star players from the Major Leagues and some of the great Negro League players met to play in exhibition matches in small towns across America. This book revisits those days and the exploits of three star pitchers who took part in those barnstorming tours, Dizzy Dean, Satchel Paige, and Bob Feller. The book is filled with inspiring stories of ballplayers and fans who enjoyed some great baseball games while defying the segregationist barriers of that period.
“Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero” by Tom Clavin and Danny Peary (Touchstone 422 pages, $26.99)
Babe Ruth’s single-season record for home runs had stood for decades when it was finally broken by the Yankee slugger Roger Maris in 1961. Maris was a shy, small-town kid from the northern plains. While he was swatting those record setting 61 home runs he was vilified by the press and by many Yankee fans who much preferred fellow slugger Mickey Mantle. Maris remains relatively unknown and misunderstood. Hopefully this book will serve to restore some of the recognition that Maris failed to obtain in his lifetime.
“The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris” by Mark Kurlansky (Riverhead Books, 272 pages, $25.95)
Mark Kurlansky is one of those rare writers who has never found a topic so vast or so strange that he dared not write about it. Kurlansky has written histories on the subjects of salt, oysters and cod. His book on nonviolence earned him the Dayton Literary Peace Prize a few years ago. Now he has directed his prodigious attention to a town that has produced an astounding number of Major Leaguers, almost 80 so far. This is a fabulous story about how baseball dreams can come true.
“Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, & Bench-Clearing Brawls: the Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime” by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca (Pantheon, 294 pages, $25)
Baseball is a game with many seemingly odd rules. Then there are the unwritten rules, the ones that are learned by playing the game. These are the unspoken rules that define sportsmanship and respect for the game. This fascinating book looks at examples of these unwritten codes and how they get enforced. There is also great latitude allowed when it relates to pranks. During one doubleheader in 1966 a player methodically set fire to the shoes of every single one of his teammates over the course of the two games. One problem: They were all wearing their shoes at the time.
Contact book reviewer Vick Mickunas at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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