Synopses & Reviews
The first in-depth look at baseball's nirvana -- a lyrical history of pitching perfection.There have been only fourteen perfect games pitched in the modern era of baseball; the great Cy Young fittingly hurled the first, in 1904, and David Cone pitched the most recent, in 1999. In between, some great pitchers -- Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Jim Bunning, and Don Larsen in the World Series -- performed the feat, as did some mediocre ones, like Len Barker and the little-known Charlie Robertson. Fourteen in 150,000 games: The odds are staggering.
When it does happen, however, the whole baseball world marvels at the combination of luck and skill, and the pitcher himself gains a kind of baseball immortality. Five years ago, Michael Coffey witnessed such an event at Yankee Stadium, and the experience prompted this expansive look at the history of these unsurpassable pitching performances. He brings his skills as a popular historian and poet to an appraisal of both the games themselvesand of the wider sport of baseball and the lives of the players in it. The careers of each of the fourteen perfect-game pitchers are assessed, not only as to their on-the-field performances but with a regard for their struggles to persevere in an extremely competitive sport in which, more often than not, the men and women who run the game from the owners' boxes are their most formidable adversaries. Along the way, Michael Coffey brings us right into the ballparks with a play-by-play account of how these games unfolded, and relates a host of fascinating stories, such as Sandy Koufax's controversial holdout with Don Drysdale and its chilling effect on baseball's owners, Mike Witt's victimization by the baseball commissioner, and Dennis Martinez's long struggle up from an impoverished Nicaraguan childhood.
Combining history, baseball, and a sweeping look at the changing face of labor relations, 27 Men Out is a new benchmark in sports history.
Review
"The rarest achievement in baseball has here gained a rare companion: a brilliant book that's about baseball but also about life, one told with such care and passion that it, too, gives a glimpse of perfection." Publishers Weekly
Review
"[T]he heart of 27 Men Out remains the individual and collective tales of brilliance, sometimes of the flash-in-the-pan variety and others providing capstones to some of the most stellar baseball careers." Library Journal
Synopsis
These are the behind-the-scenes stories of baseball's perfect games who threw them, how they happened, and what made them possible. Acclaimed author Michael Coffey fuses the enthusiasm of a lifelong baseball fanatic, the lyricism of a fine poet, and the acumen of a historian to bring these rare episodes to thrilling life on the page.
About the Author
Michael Coffey is the editor of
The Irish in America, a companion volume to a three-part PBS documentary, and the author of two books of poems. He lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Foreword by Bill James Introduction
CHAPTER ONE
The Cyclone: Denton True "Cy" Young
CHAPTER TWO
The Twirlologist: Addie Joss
CHAPTER THREE
The Mystery Guest: Charlie Robertson
CHAPTER FOUR
Gooney Bird: Don Larsen
CHAPTER FIVE
The Senator: Jim Bunning
CHAPTER SIX
The Great One: Sandy Koufax
CHAPTER SEVEN
Name of Jimmy: Catfish Hunter
CHAPTER EIGHT
Big Lennie: Len Barker
CHAPTER NINE
A Sharp Witt: Mike Witt
CHAPTER TEN
A Good Bet: Tom Browning
CHAPTER ELEVEN
El Presidente: Dennis Martinez
CHAPTER TWELVE
Strawberries: Kenny Rogers
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
New York, New York: Davids Wells and Cone
Appendix I: Perfect-Game Curios Appendix II: Perfect-Game Box Scores
Bibliographical Notes
Acknowledgments
Photo Credits
Index