From Library Journal
The player-manager has gone the way of the inexpensive baseball ticket, but in former times players with plenty of smarts and leadership skill often filled a key dual role. In each of this book's 19 chapters, Stein (Mel Ott: The Little Giant of Baseball) describes a couple of such leaders, including John McGraw, Bill Terry, Mickey Cochrane, and Lou Boudreau. This informed, insightful study would best suit the real student of the sport. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
At least as far back as 1842 through about the late 1930s and mid–1940s, before baseball became commercialized and teams were able to hire one man to manage the entire team, it was not uncommon for one person to fill the roles of player and manager simultaneously. Often, the strongest, brightest, or best player—or sometimes the person who owned the playing equipment—directed his teammates. Forty-two of those men who were both players and managers at the same time are profiled in this work. The book leads off with chapters describing what it was like to fill the dual role and how it came about. Then, chapters are devoted to such men as Cap Anson, Connie Mack, Charles Comiskey, John McGraw, Mickey Cochrane, Dave Bancroft, Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Joe Cronin, and Pete Rose, just to name a few.
About the Author
A member of SABR for over 25 years and a contributor to SABR publications, Fred Stein is also the author of Mel Ott: The Little Giant of Baseball (1999, $26.95). He now lives in Clearwater, Florida.
And the Skipper Bats Cleanup: A History of the Baseball Player-Manager, with 42 Biographies of Men Who Filled the Dual Role FROM THE PUBLISHER
"At least as far back as 1842 through about the late 1930s and mid-1940s, before baseball became completely commercialized and teams were able to hire one man to manage the entire team, it was not uncommon for one person to fill the roles of player and manager simultaneously. Often, the strongest, brightest, or best player - or sometimes the person who owned the playing equipment - directed his teammates." Forty-two of those men who were both players and managers at the same time are profiled in this work. The book leads off with chapters describing what it was like to fill the dual role and how it came about. Then, chapters are devoted to such men as Cap Anson, Connie Mack, Charles Comiskey, John McGraw, Mickey Cochrane, Dave Bancroft, Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Joe Cronin, and Pete Rose, just to name a few.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
The player-manager has gone the way of the inexpensive baseball ticket, but in former times players with plenty of smarts and leadership skill often filled a key dual role. In each of this book's 19 chapters, Stein (Mel Ott: The Little Giant of Baseball) describes a couple of such leaders, including John McGraw, Bill Terry, Mickey Cochrane, and Lou Boudreau. This informed, insightful study would best suit the real student of the sport. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Art & Photography
Book Info
