having a career day

Reviewed by G. Louis Heath, Ashford University

13 october 2014 archive

having a career day

This is another fine book by Sports Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. The passion and craft of the author, Stan Fischler, retired sports journalist, shines through in every one of the 101 short, factual narratives he recounts. The first section, "Baseball History," consists of inimitable, believe-it-or-not feats that include: "Four Home Runs The Odd Way" (3 of the 4 were inside the park); "Most Incredible Relief Job In History" (Philadelphia reliever Ed Rommel came in behind 3-2 in second inning and left 17 innings later with an 18-17 win); and, "Feller's Bid For A Win Felled In A Strange Way" ("Rapid Robert" set a MLB record, striking out 18, yet lost 4-1). The other stories are, for the most part, equally compelling.

The second section, "Incredible Feats," includes: "Babe Ruth As Pitching Star And Car-Battering Ace" (Ruth once threw 29 and 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series games owing to great control. But his control failed him on the highway where he crashed a number of custom-built cars.) and "A Yankee Batboy Was Fired For Almost Killing Babe Ruth And Later Became A Film Star" (Sent to buy snacks, batboy William Bendix returned with a dozen hotdogs and a dozen quarts of soda that made The Babe sick, sending him to the hospital and prompting the firing of Bendix, who would later play Ruth in the movie The Babe Ruth Story.)

I found the other feats in Section 2 also entertaining and informative. The author's style throughout the book is facile and accessible so that 7th grade baseball fans on up can enjoy the stories. Yet, do not doubt that the writing is very good (just not highbrow).

Section III, "Unlikely Heroes," is comprised of iconic feats including: "A One-Armed Outfielder In The Majors" (Pete Gray, St. Louis Browns' center fielder during WWII, hit .218; adequate fielder) and "The Jewish Slugger Who Got A Nickname Like Babe Ruth" ("Rabbi of Swat" for New York Giants in 1923). The other stories range from a midget playing for St. Louis to a homerun resulting from infield confusion as to which ball was actually hit!

"Incredible Feats," Section IV, features more feats, including "An Incredible Corny Conviction" (a 3rd base coach is tossed for eating Cracker Jacks in the box) and "How Yogi Became A Stand-Up Comic" (on the etiology of the 1st Yogi-ism). The other stories are also very incredible but oh-so-true.

Section V, "Outrageous," offers feats such as "The Remarkable Bird on Casey's Hat," "How A Bleachers Spectator Changed Pitchers for the Dodgers," and "Three Men on Third—How Can That Happen?" These and the other stories certainly live up to their collective sobriquet.

I enjoyed this book. It is light, highly readable, and encyclopedic in format. It belongs in public and school libraries. It would make for an enjoyable, informative read for anyone interested in sports trivia.

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