“Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert” &
“Blows To The Head” and more
A very important yet not too well documented
corner of baseball history - - interracial baseball prior to the
arrival of Jackie Robinson on the scene is the subject matter of
“Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert” by Timothy Gay (Simon & Schuster,
$26.00,349 pages).
We are there with Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Jay Hanna
“Dizzy” Dean and Robert William Andrew “Bob” Feller. We are there in
the barnstorming and amidst Jim Crow, there for the elation and joy
and humor and also for the degradation, hurt and racism. There are
many never before told stories in this well researched and important
tome.
“Blows To The Head” is a slim but fascinating and
virtually inspirational story by Binnie Klein (Suny Press, $19.95,
195 pages) all about as the book’s sub-title proclaims “how boxing
changed my mind.” The prime focus of this appealing narrative is how
in the mid 1950s the author, a Jewish psychotherapist, became
interweaved with boxing and in the process discovered so much about
her roots. A KNOCKOUT OF A BOOK
Back in the day there was arrogant and
in-your-face Charlie Finley, possessor of hype, hoopla and
histrionics. He was the owner who moved his team from KC to Oakland,
winning three straight division titles, three World Series,
developing such players as Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie
Fingers and more. “Charlie Finley” by G. Michael Green and Roger D.
Launius,(Walker,)$27.00, 336 pages) could have used some tighter
editing and perhaps 75 less pages; nevertheless, it brings back a
time, a place and one of baseball history’s more zany characters.
Douglas J. Gladstone’s slim paperback “A Bitter
Cup of Coffee (Word Association, $18.00, 192 pages) is a carefully
researched look at how MLB and the Players Association and the
vexing issue of 874 players who played in the Majors for that
proverbial “cup of coffee” and never were retroactively included in
amended vesting requirements.
