Baseball’s Shooting Stars

Every serious baseball fan can attest to the perennial excellence of stars like Babe Ruth and Ken Griffey, Jr. But how many can recall the exploits of Fred Dunlap, George Stone, Bobby Shantz, or Mark Fidrych? Each of these players performed like a superstar for a single season, but none of them came close to replicating that success in subsequent years. Some achieved early success and flamed out, while others overcame early setbacks to achieve brief stardom late in their careers. Some were one-year wonders, and others sustained solid careers after setting an early standard that they would never again reach. This book contains the bittersweet stories of 30 such players who tantalized their fans with visions of greatness, but ultimately fell short.

David J. Gordon is a cardiovascular epidemiologist and an internationally recognized expert on clinical trials, who recently retired after 42 years with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. He has authored seven analytic and historical articles in SABR’s Baseball Research Journal, and a book analyzing and ranking the careers of baseball’s greatest players. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

David J. Gordon
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 267
Bibliographic Info: 47 photos, glossary, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9489-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5352-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii

Preface: The Allure of Shooting Stars 1

 1. Introduction 3

 2. The King of Second Base: Frederick C. Dunlap (1884) 10

 3. The Other Cy: James Bentley “Cy” Seymour (1905) 19

 4. The Reluctant Star: George Robert Stone (1906) 25

 5. California Dutch: Hubert Benjamin “Dutch” Leonard (1914) 30

 6. Windfall: William Wilcy Moore (1927) 37

 7. The ­Left-Handed Satchel Paige: Stewart “Slim” Jones (1934) 42

 8. The Pride of the Jury Box: Thomas Francis “Tommy” Holmes (1945) 49

 9. Harry the Cat: Harry David Brecheen (1948) 55

10. The Little Pitcher Who Could: Robert Clayton “Bobby” Shantz (1952) 61

11. The Hebrew Hammer: Albert Leonard “Al” Rosen (1953) 68

12. Diamond Jim: James Edward “Jim” Gentile (1961) 75

13. Stormin’ Norman: Norman Dalton “Norm” Cash (1961) 80

14. The World’s Most Horrible Hitter: Henry John “Hank” Aguirre (1962) 87

15. Bonus Baby: Richard Clark “Dick” Ellsworth (1963) 92

16. The Mark of Zoilo: Zoilo Casanova Versalles (1965) 98

17. Angleworm: Theodore Wade “Ted” Abernathy (1967) 105

18. Fenway Power: Americo Peter “Rico” Petrocelli (1969) 111

19. Billy Sunday: Billy Cordell Grabarkewitz (1970) 118

20. The Comeback Kid: John Frederick Hiller (1973) 124

21. The Bird Is the Word: Mark Steven “The Bird” Fidrych (1976) 131

22. Imperfect: Darrell Ray Porter (1979) 138

23. Doctor K: Dwight Eugene “Doc” Gooden (1985) 146

24. The Last ­150-Inning Reliever: Mark Anthony Eichhorn (1986) 156

25. Skates: Lonnie Smith (1989) 161

26. Journeyman: Richard David “Rick” Wilkins (1993) 170

27. Bad Boy: Esteban Antonio Loaiza (2003) 175

28. Brian’s Little Brother: Marcus William Giles (2003) 181

29. The Perfect Pitching Prospect: Mark William Prior (2003) 186

30. The Natural: Joshua Holt (Josh) Hamilton (2010) 192

31. The Next Dave Winfield: Matthew Ryan “Matt” Kemp (2011) 200

32. ­Wrap-Up 207

Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations 211

Chapter Notes 215

Bibliography 243

Index 253