Baseball’s Bonus Babies
Conversations with 24 High-Priced Ballplayers Signed from 1953 to 1957
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About the Book
In the mid-1940s, the post-war United States was a prosperous country, and baseball had its own share of this prosperity. An expanding minor league led to unprecedented competition for young baseball talent. The ill-conceived idea of a signing bonus quickly introduced an element of financial competition into the sport of baseball, much to the discomfort of many minor league teams. Unable to compete with major league teams, the minor leagues pressed for restrictions on the bonuses paid to players. Bonus rules—the first enacted in 1946 and the second implemented in 1953—attempted unsuccessfully to curb ever-rising bonuses and limit the damage this policy ultimately did to both teams and players.
Containing 24 interviews, this volume focuses on players signed under the strict bonus rule of 1953–1957, which required that players signed to a bonus of $4,000 or more remain on the big league roster for two full seasons before being sent to the minor leagues. Organized chronologically, these interviews explore the lives and careers of the bonus babies with emphasis on their early big-league experience and its effect on their careers. Players interviewed in this volume include Harmon Killebrew, Reno Bertoia, Tommy Qualters, Jim Pyburn, John DeMerit, Von McDaniel, Don Pavletich, Mel Roach, Steve Boros, Dick Schofield, Jim Derrington, Mike McCormick, Jim Pagliaroni, Paul Giel, Buddy Pritchard, Jerry Walker, Jim Brady, Wayne Causey, Lindy McDaniel, Jim Small, Don Kaiser, Tommy Carroll, Jerry Kindall and Frank Zupo. An appendix provides a complete chronological listing of players signed under the bonus rule of 1953–1957. The work is also indexed.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Brent Kelley
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 213
Bibliographic Info: 26 photos, appendix, index
Copyright Date: 2006
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2519-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8270-2
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1953 3
1. Reno Bertoia 5
2. Tom Qualters 10
3. Mel Roach 25
4. Dick Schofield 32
1954 39
5. Paul Giel 41
6. Harmon Killebrew 48
1955 55
7. Jim Brady 57
8. Tom Carroll 64
9. Wayne Causey 76
10. Jim Derrington 84
11. Don Kaiser 90
12. Lindy McDaniel 96
13. Jim Pagliaroni 105
14. Jim Pyburn 111
15. Jim Small 116
1956 123
16. Jerry Kindall 125
17. Mike McCormick 140
1957 149
18. Steve Boros 151
19. John DeMerit 161
20. Von McDaniel 167
21. Don Pavletich 174
22. Buddy Pritchard 178
23. Jerry Walker 185
24. Frank Zupo 191
Appendix: Players Signed Under the Bonus Rule of 1953–1957 199
Index 201
