.721

This book is the day by day story of the 1954 Indians, whose .721 winning percentage is still the highest in American League history. It tells how down the city of Cleveland was on the team following three straight second-place finishes, how little was expected of it by its fans, and even some of its players, and how it exceeded all expectations by winning a league-record 111 games and a pennant, before flopping in the World Series.

Gary Webster has spent many years in commercial radio in northeastern Ohio and is the author of five books for McFarland.

Gary Webster
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 204
Bibliographic Info: 9 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7655-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0562-3
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
1. Hank and Al 5
2. A Slow Start 53
3. Picking Up the Pace 65
4. Avoiding the Swoon 81
5. Seeing Stars 97
6. Can’t Shake the Yanks 115
7. Magic Numbers 133
8. The Catch, the Homer and Other Calamities 153
Epilogue 167
Appendix A. The Players’ Statistics 175
Appendix B. The 1954 Schedule 178
Chapter Notes 183
Bibliography 188
Index 189

“This well-researched book is eminently readable…the equivalent of sitting in a bar, nursing a beer, and listening intently to the insights of a baseball- loving pal who has detailed a season in the life of a big league ball club”—Nine.