More Ghosts in the Gallery

An irony of enshrinement at the baseball Hall of Fame is that it’s no guarantee of lasting name recognition. The sport’s history stretches too far back, as today fans scratch their heads about athletes and owners who were among the most celebrated public figures of their time. Who was more renowned than George Wright, baseball’s greatest star during the transition from amateur to professional play? Who was more feared than Big Dan Brouthers? Maybe it was Amos Rusie, who threw so hard that some say the rules makers increased the pitching distance just to make things fair. . Of the 256 players, managers and executives in the Hall of Fame, the names that are known well—Ty Cobb, Connie Mack, Willie Mays—account for a small minority.
This book, a follow-up to Ghosts in the Gallery at Cooperstown (2004), provides chapter-length biographies on 16 Hall of Famers from baseball’s distant past. Award–winning biographer David Fleitz covers in detail the lives and careers of Negro League (Hilton Smith) and pre–Negro League greats (Cristóbal Torriente and Smokey Joe Williams), big leaguers from the 19th century (Wright, Brouthers, Rusie, Mickey Welch, Tommy McCarthy, Tim Keefe, Joe Kelley, Billy Hamilton, and Sam Thompson) and stars from the deadball era through the Second World War (Jimmy Collins, Sam Rice, Kiki Cuyler, Arky Vaughan). For some, it is the first time their stories appear in print.

David L. Fleitz is a web developer and database analyst who lives in Troy, Michigan. A longtime SABR member, he has written nine other books on baseball history.

David L. Fleitz
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: 35 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3133-5
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8062-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1

1. George Wright      3
2. Jimmy Collins      18
3. Dan Brouthers      33
4. Tommy McCarthy      48
5. Billy Hamilton      64
6. Sam Rice      78
7. Tim Keefe      91
8. Kiki Cuyler      108
9. Joe Kelley      121
10. Mickey Welch      138
11. Sam Thompson      151
12. Amos Rusie      168
13. Arky Vaughan      184
14. Joe Williams      198
15. Hilton Smith      211
16. Cristóbal Torriente      224

Notes      237
Bibliography      243
Index      245

“for some, this is the first time their stories have appeared in print…excellent”—Sports Collectors Digest.