Eye for Talent
Interviews with Veteran Baseball Scouts
$39.95
In stock
About the Book
Baseball scouts are often unseen, seldom recognized, and usually underappreciated by fans, but they have contributed enormously to the development and evolution of baseball at all levels, from the players they signed to the changes in the business climate of the game. This book presents original interviews with 19 baseball scouts.
In many cases, these veterans are a vanishing breed; among the most respected baseball men in the business, most have a minimum of forty years’ experience in scouting. They share their experiences as players, their development as scouts while the business and the game continually evolved, the players they signed and the ones that got away. Along with each interview is a list of the scout’s signed players who made it to the major leagues.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Edited by P.J. Dragseth
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 251
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4361-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5813-4
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Foreword by Lenny Yochim 1
Preface 3
Introduction 5
THE INTERVIEWS
Hugh Alexander 19
Dick Egan 29
Jerry Gardner 41
Jethro “Jeth” McIntyre 52
Ellis Clary 62
Dick Wilson 74
Gene “Junior” Thompson 106
Bobby Mattick 116
Al LaMacchia 128
George Genovese 144
Julian Mock 160
Fred McAlister 171
Gib Bodet 187
Phil Rizzo 199
Cecil Espy 207
Bob Harrison 221
George Digby 231
Bibliography 235
Index 237
Book Reviews & Awards
“these scouts are great company, and in Dragseth’s pages their humanity and optimism as well as their hard-headed realism shine through”—Nine; “17 skillfully-presented monologues…anyone who thinks scouts…are the unsung heroes of the game will treasure this book”—Spitball; “a great introduction”—Reference & Research Book News.