Synopses & Reviews
Wayne Terwilliger, aka “Twig,” is a real-life Forrest Gump of the baseball world,
showing up at some of the game’s most celebrated moments. When the ’51 Giants’ Bobby Thomson hit “The Shot Heard ’Round the World,” Twig watched from the bench of the opposing Dodgers. When Ted Williams came out of retirement in 1969 to manage the Washington Senators, he chose Twig as his third-base coach, and when Williams was named Manager of the Year, more than one observer said it was Twig who earned the honor. When 1990’s last-place Minnesota Twins came back the next season to win an electrifying World Series, he coached at first base. His tale reaches beyond baseball: when the Marines led the assault on Saipan in World War II, Twig was in the lead, and his photo became an American icon, the Postal Service’s tribute to the 1940s. When they hoisted the Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima, Twig was patrolling the beach against Japanese soldiers.
Wayne Terwilliger’s stories span eighty years of life in America, including fifty-seven years of professional baseball as player, coach and manager in every part of these United States. He’s an unlikely hero with all-American values (stand up straight, look a person in the eye, tell thetruth) and only a couple of regrets (he should have been a better hitter and a better family man).
Synopsis
Through fifty-seven seasons (and counting) in professional baseball, Wayne "Twig" Terwilliger has seen and done it all. He witnessed the "Shot Heard Round the World" at the Polo Grounds in 1951 and Mickey Mantle's mile-long homer at Griffith Stadium in 1953. He got a game-winning single off Satchel Paige and a home run off Whitey Ford. He turned double plays against Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson one season and with them the next. He counted Willie Mays and Roger Maris among his teammates and Ted Williams among his friends. He was part of the Minnesota Twins electrifying World Series win in 1991 - and he ain't finished yet!
Born in Michigan in 1925, Terwilliger was an undersized kid with modest skills and big dreams. As a marine in World War II, he played baseball between air raids and witnessed the raising of the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. In 1949, after only four months of Triple A ball, he became the starting second baseman for the Chicago Cubs - and never looked back. Terwilliger Bunts One is the story of this unlikely hero - a man with all-American values, few regrets, and an unwavering enthusiasm to "play ball".
Synopsis
Wayne Terwilligers stories span eighty years of life in America, including fifty-seven years of professional baseball as player, coach, and manager in every part of these United States. Hes an unlikely hero with all-American values (stand up straight, look a person in the eye, tell the truth) and only a couple of regrets (he should have been a better hitter and a better family man).
About the Author
A journalism major at Marquette University and a lifelong magazine writer and editor,
Nancy Peterson knows how to organize massive quantities of information into readable and
compelling stories. Peter Boehm is an engaging interviewer, a skilled public communicator, a
natural story-teller with a discerning ear for speech, and a professional typesetter who
produces books and journals.