Early Wynn, the Go-Go White Sox and the 1959 World Series

This is the story of how the hapless Chicago White Sox, badly hurt by the banning of players after the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, floundered until the 1950s when they were finally rebuilt and had their first success in 40 years. The culminating event was the capture of the 1959 American League pennant, made possible by aging pitcher Early Wynn. Wynn, nearly 40, was the best pitcher in the game that season, winning 22 games and the Cy Young Award. He was the last piece in the puzzle that put the Sox over the top and, in addition to the team’s historic season, the book tracks his life before, during and after baseball.

Lew Freedman is a long-time, prize-winning journalist for such newspapers as the Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Anchorage Daily News and Wyoming’s Cody Enterprise. Specializing in sports and the outdoors, he has written more than 100 books. He lives in Columbus, Indiana.

Lew Freedman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 223
Bibliographic Info: 11 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4442-7
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5512-6
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Introduction      5

1. The Little Left-Hander      11
2. The Deal Maker      19
3. Early Early Wynn      29
4. The Barrier Breaker      37
5. Looking for Keepers      46
6. The Chief and His Indians      55
7. More Than Just Names      65
8. The Guy They Called Little Nell      75
9. Magician with a Glove      84
10. Wynn Joins the White Sox      92
11. Becoming a Contender      100
12. Filling in the Holes      110
13. The New Guy Is Different      118
14. Going for It All      129
15. Erasing 40 Years of Bad Luck      139
16. Veeck—As in What the Heck      147
17. Taking a Run at First Place      156
18. The Promised Land at Last      165
19. Welcome to the World Series      175
20. Too Late for Early and the Sox      187

Epilogue: Fifty Years Later      195
Chapter Notes      197
Bibliography      205
Index      211