Mel Ott

Melvin Thomas Ott was smaller than most home run sluggers, at 5’9”, 170 pounds, but he could sure hit ’em as far as the big boys. Over a 22-year playing career with the New York Giants, Ott slapped 511 homers, then a National League record. At the tender age of 20, he erupted on the scene with career highs of 42 home runs and 152 RBIs. He went on to win or share six home run titles, appear in 11 All-Star Games and play in three World Series. It was a foregone conclusion when Ott was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951.
This is the first-ever biography of baseball’s renowned “nice guy.” Every aspect of his remarkable baseball career is covered, from his jump to the big leagues at age 17 to his tragic death at age 49. Ott’s managerial and broadcasting careers are also discussed.

The late Fred Stein was a retired federal official and environmental consultant and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research since 1976. He wrote written three books on the Giants and contributed articles to USA Today Baseball Weekly and the SABR publications. A native New Yorker, he lived in Springfield, Virginia.

Fred Stein
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 239
Bibliographic Info: photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 1999
pISBN: 978-0-7864-0658-6
eISBN: 978-0-7864-6266-7
Imprint: McFarland

“before A-Rod, there was Mel Ott”—The SABR Bulletin; “here’s the full story of one of the best—and nicest guys to play the sport”—USA Today Sports Weekly; “the author, a retired federal official who has written three books on the New York Giants, turns his attention to one of that team’s greatest figures, Mel Ott”—Library Journal; “the first biography of the great New York Giants outfielder…a well-researched, valuable tribute”—The Palm Beach Post; “the best baseball myths always carry a bittersweet tang, and this first biography of Mel Ott passes that taste test with ease”—Booklist; “the first-ever biography of baseball’s renowned “nice guy”…grounds the essentials of Ott’s varied career in lucid style without privileging a particular slant toward Ott”—Public Library Quarterly.