Synopses & Reviews
Advance Praise for Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot?
""Aron has found the Rosetta stone to all of baseball's enduring mysteries, and he skips it along the pond with utter disregard for the ducks. His fortunate readers will have so much fun they may not even notice that they are becoming, page by page, real experts. Here is surefire water-cooler ammo.""
--JOHN THORN, editor of Total Baseball
""Paul Aron puts a distant replay on the most famous controversies in baseball history. This is more fun than if he'd been there with a camcorder.""
--ALLEN BARRA, author of Clearing the Bases and Brushbacks and Knockdowns
""Paul Aron has hit a home run for baseball fans. He dissects the evidence on baseball's 28 most charming mysteries. The result is a well-written, enjoyable, enlightening tour of the last hundred years of baseball history.""
--ANDREW ZIMBALIST, author of Baseball and Billions
""Paul Aron's book on elements of baseball is both wise and fun, illuminating and entertaining.""
--ROBERT ADAIR, author of The Physics of Baseball
""The essential last word for every fan who loves to debate baseball fact and fiction.""
--MICHAEL SHAPIRO, author of The Last Good Season
Review
"DID RUTH CALL HIS SHOT? is a lively, intriguing contribution to baseball literature. Delving into stories both familiar and unfamiliar, Aron's work is remarkably current, refreshingly well-balanced and always entertaining."
—Jules Tygiel, author of Past Time and Extra Bases
"Paul Aron has hit a home run for baseball fans. He dissects the evidence on baseball's 28 most charming mysteries. The result is a well-written, enjoyable, enlightening tour of the last 100 years of baseball history."
—Andrew Zimbalist, author of Baseball and Billions
"Paul D. Aron has written a compelling series of essays attempting to solve the most vexing 28 mysteries associated with the great game of baseball. Does he solve them once and for all? You'll have to read this fine, enjoyable book to find out."
—Paul Dickson, author of The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary
"Paul Aron's book on elements of baseball is both wise and fun, illuminating and entertaining." R 1 2 ;Robert Adair, author of The Physics of Baseball
"Has Paul Aron read everything ever written about baseball? This appears to be the case, and he's therefore able to answer all the age-old questions (What was the real story behind Steinbrenner's banishment?) and new ones as well (What's really going on with 'clutch' hitting?). I'm almost afraid Aron has taken the fun out of the game. There are no more mysteries. With this fiendishly clever book, everything is revealed."
—Mike Bryan, author of Baseball Lives and co-author of Keith Hernandez's two books, Pure Baseball and If At First: A Season With the Mets
"Paul Aron has found the Rosetta Stone to all of baseball's enduring mysteries, and he skips it along the pond with utter disregard for the ducks. His fortunate readers will have so much fun they may not even notice that they are becoming, page by page, real experts. Here is surefire water-cooler ammo." —John Thorn, editor of Total Baseball
"Paul Aron puts a distant replay on the most famous controversies in baseball history. This is more fun than if he'd been there with a camcorder." —Allen Barra, author of Clearing the Bases and Brushes and Knockdowns
"The essential last word for every fan who loves to debate baseball fact and fiction." —Michael Shapiro, author of The Last Good Season
"Aron has found the Rosetta Stone to all of baseball's enduring mysteries, and he skips it along the pond with utter disregard for the ducks. His fortunate readers will have so much fun they may not even notice that they are becoming, page by page, real experts. Here is surefire water-cooler ammo." —John Thorn, Editor of Total Baseball
Synopsis
" Aron has found the Rosetta Stone to all of baseball s enduring mysteries. . . . Here is surefire water-cooler ammo." John Thorn, Editor of Total Baseball
Did Shoeless Joe Jackson throw the World Series? Why did the Dodgers move? Were yesterday s players better than today s? Why can t the Red Sox win? In this captivating book, history sleuth Paul Aron takes a fresh look at dozens of baseball s most perplexing questions, debates, and conundrums. Carefully presenting all the evidence in each case, he comes up with most likely answer, giving baseball fans and trivia buffs all the ammunition they need to impress friends, astound acquaintances . . . and win bar bets.
Paul Aron (Williamsburg, VA), an award-winning reporter for the Virginia Gazette, is the author of Unsolved Mysteries of American History (0-471-28368-1), Unsolved Mysteries of History (0-471-44257-7), and More Unsolved Mysteries of American History (0-471-26705-8).
About the Author
PAUL ARON is the author of Unsolved Mysteries of American History, Unsolved Mysteries of History, and More Unsolved Mysteries of American History, all from Wiley. He is also an award-winning reporter for the Virginia Gazette.
Table of Contents
Preface.
1. Who Invented Baseball?
2. Who Was the First Black in the Majors?
3. Who Was Casey at the Bat?
4. Was Ed Delahanty Murdered?
5. Did Merkle Touch Second?
6. Did Cobb Win the 1910 Batting Race?
7. Did Shoeless Joe Throw the Series?
8. What Caused Ruth’s “Bellyache”?
9. What Caused the Home Run Surge?
10. Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot?
11. Was Moe Berg a Spy?
12. What Caused the Feud between Williams and the Press?
13. Why Did Rickey Sign Robinson?
14. How Old Was Satchel Paige?
15. Did Thomson Steal Branca’s Sign?
16. Why Did the Dodgers Move?
17. Why Didn’t Castro Sign with the Senators?
18. Why Was Steinbrenner Banned?
19. What Took the Red Sox So Long?
20. Why Can’t the Cubs Win?
21. Who Threw the Spitter?
22. Does a Curveball Curve?
23. Where Did “Fungo” Come From?
24. Can Small-Market Teams Compete?
25. Does Clutch Hitting Exist?
26. Were Yesterday’s Players Better?
27. Do Managers Matter?
28. Does It Pay to Steal?
Index.