By Dan Hirshberg

We are past the midway point of the baseball season so now’s as good a time as any offer up some (relatively) new baseball book reads as the pennant races heat up.

Here are short reviews for three of them I recently had the pleasure of reading: Spitballer, Stan Coveleski and the 1920 Cleveland Indians; So Young, So Great, Bob Feller Electrifies Baseball and America; and Ford Frick, Baseball’s Third Commissioner and his Four Decades of Shaping the Game. 

I particularly enjoyed the Feller book. Rather than try and rehash his entire career, author Jim Ingraham focuses on Feller’s first few years in the majors, 1936-1941. Feller was pretty much plucked out of nowhere, Van Meter Iowa, by the Cleveland Indians, and pitched in his first games in the majors when he was just 17. Never spent a day in the minor leagues. In those first few years Feller immediately became a fire balling strikeout king, tying an American League K record in his first season with 15 whiffs in a game, and when he was 19, striking out 17 to set a major league record. Later he hurled the only no-hitter on opening day. The achievements and accolades are aplenty and highlighted in the book. 

He was a superstar as a teenager. He was still in high school in his first major league season and was so renowned, his high school graduation was broadcast live on the radio. Crazy to think, but he had newspaper coverage of a dental appointment. Folks could not get enough of Feller, who had his career put on hold like many others at the time, when he signed up to fight in World War II. One footnote although the book does not mention anything else about his post military career – after several years out of the game, Feller won his first game back! A future Hall of Famer, he set several pitching records along the way.  

Spitballer covers the career of Stan Coveleski, one of the last of the legal throwing spitballers. At one time, into the early 1920s, the spitball was an accepted part of the game. As time wore on the pitch was ruled illegal, however, a few pitchers who had history with it, Covelesksi included, were allowed to throw it until they retired. 

Coveleski’s 1920 season, by far, was his best. He won 24 games against 14 defeats and led the American League in strikeouts. He beat the Brooklyn Dodgers three times in the World Series, posting an incredible ERA of just 0.67. He had a career record of 215-142 with several outstanding seasons. 

Perhaps the most intriguing storyline about Coveleski is how he grew up in a coal mining family and how he was able to escape that very tough life. In the end it added up to a Hall of Fame career. 

The book on Ford Frick, another Hall of Famer, was all-encompassing, although unfortunately redundant at times and with some confusing date references as it seemed to go back and forth when not necessary. The author highlights Frick’s accomplishments, of which there were many during his time as first American League President and then MLB Commissioner. The one area that it did not cover in any great detail was Frick’s relationship with Judge Kenesaw Landis, the longtime Commissioner prior to Frick. Frick often, according to the book, as League President went behind Landis’ back in order to accomplish some goals. Did Landis just stand by? Did he try and keep a check on Frick? How did the National League President feel about all this? A lot of detail, but it would have been nice to learn what those other guys reacted. Still, there’s no denying that Frick was a part of many key developments as President and Commissioner, in particular, his involvement with breaking the color line with Jackie Robinson.  

All three books, ironically all published by the University of Nebraska, are good reads, especially if you enjoy the history of baseball in times gone by. 

Dan Hirshberg is the author of several books, including Baseball in Pinellas County and Phil Rizzuto: A Yankee Tradition. He frequently writes about baseball. Visit his Facebook page, Danny Baseball 56, for more articles, as well as some of his Play Ball!! Podcasts.