In this collection of interviews, baseball players, coaches, and managers speak candidly about their most memorable moments and experiences in baseball’s big leagues. Their recollections of the former big leaguers often come from their early years spent learning the game, their first time stepping on the field as a big leaguer, their first strikeout as a pitcher, or their first hit as a batter—to the more disappointing moments such as a first trade, a World Series loss, or a release signaling the end of a career. Bob Friend, Bobby Thomson, Johnny Pesky, Jim Kaat, Frank Malzone, Dale Berra, Larry Bowa, Gil McDougald, Gene Garber, Billy Sample, Nellie Briles, Jon Matlack, Catfish Hunter, Fred Patek, Vern Law, Clem Labine, Virgil Trucks, Frank Tanana, Jimmy Greengrass, Bill Virdon, Sparky Anderson, Dick Williams, Hector Lopez, and Ralph Houk are the interviewees.

Victor Debs, Jr., is also the author of Missed It by That Much: Baseball Players Who Challenged the Record Books (1998) and Still Standing After All These Years: Twelve of Baseball’s Longest Standing Records (1997). A member of the Society for American Baseball Research, he lives on Staten Island, New York.

Victor Debs, Jr.
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 233
Bibliographic Info: photos, index
Copyright Date: 2002
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1178-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8330-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     vii

Introduction     1

ON THE ROAD     5

Bob Friend     7

Bobby Thomson     13

Johnny Pesky     20

Jim Kaat     28

Frank Malzone     38

Dale Berra     49

Larry Bowa     59

Gil McDougald     72

Gene Garber     85

Billy Sample     98

Nellie Briles     111

Jon Matlack     125

ON THE PHONE    145

Catfish Hunter     147

Fred Patek     151

Vernon Law     156

Clem Labine     161

Virgil Trucks     166

Frank Tanana     171

Jimmy Greengrass     177

Bill Virdon     184

Sparky Anderson     189

Dick Williams     195

Hector Lopez     201

Ralph Houk     208

Index     215

“immediately appealing…crisp and clean accounts”—Aethlon.