Using statistical comparisons and accounting for the variances between players of different eras and levels of competition, this work provides the answer to the question of the greatest home run hitter of all time. The minors, Japanese, Negro and major leagues-both the deadball and lively ball eras-are fully analyzed.

The King of Swat : An Analysis of Baseball's Home Run Hitters from the Major, Minor, Negro, and Japanese Leagues

Sports & Outdoors

McNeil, William

Baseball

McFarland Publishing

The magical 1998 baseball season made celebrities of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa as they chased the legendary single season major league home run record. Fittingly, their success also refocused the spotlight on the men they were chasing (and eventually overtook): Yankee sluggers Babe Ruth and Roger Maris. This work reviews the life and careers of these four record-breaking longballers, with special emphasis placed on each of their record-breaking seasons. Appropriate mention is made of the record challengers such as Mantle and Foxx in order that the analyses may be seen in context. The four combatants are also studied side by side, comparing the various cultural and social conditions and changes in the game that may have affected each player's home run totals. Numerous unique and interesting facts and statistics are included: e.g., Ruth set the single-season home run record not once but four times and held the record longer than Maris did (despite the common misconception); Sosa held the record for 45 minutes after hitting number 66; Ruth outhomered every other team in 1927, but in 1998 Big Mac didn't come close to outslugging even one team.

Ruth, Maris, McGwire and Sosa: Baseball's Single Season Home Run Champions

Biographies & Memoirs

Cool Papas and Double Duties: The All-Time Greats of the Negro Leagues

Many of the great ballplayers of the Negro League have been forgotten simply because baseball's Hall of Fame would not recognize black players until Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige made their way into the Hall of Fame. For this book, more than 50 former Negro League players and baseball historians were asked to vote for players who they believe should have been included in the Hall of Fame, and to select an All-Time Negro League All-Star Team. In addition to presenting and discussing their choices, the book profiles the lives and careers of the players selected. Appendices include rosters of the players and historians who voted.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

The California Winter League: America's First Integrated Professional Baseball League

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.

History

Americas

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McNeil, William. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McNeil, William

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McNeil, William. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The King of Swat : An Analysis of Baseball's Home Run Hitters from the Major, Minor, Negro, and Japanese Leagues

Ruth, Maris, McGwire and Sosa: Baseball's Single Season Home Run Champions

Cool Papas and Double Duties: The All-Time Greats of the Negro Leagues

The California Winter League: America's First Integrated Professional Baseball League