Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot? : And Other Unsolved Mysteries of Baseball

by Aron, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780471482048
• ISBN10: 0471482048
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-11
• Publisher: WILEY

Summary

Advance Praise for Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot? "Aron has found the Rosetta stone to all of baseball's enduring mysteries, and he skips it along the pond with utter disregard for the ducks. His fortunate readers will have so much fun they may not even notice that they are becoming, page by page, real experts. Here is surefire water-cooler ammo." --JOHN THORN, editor of Total Baseball "Paul Aron puts a distant replay on the most famous controversies in baseball history. This is more fun than if he'd been there with a camcorder." --ALLEN BARRA, author of Clearing the Bases and Brushbacks and Knockdowns "Paul Aron has hit a home run for baseball fans. He dissects the evidence on baseball's 28 most charming mysteries. The result is a well-written, enjoyable, enlightening tour of the last hundred years of baseball history." --ANDREW ZIMBALIST, author of Baseball and Billions "Paul Aron's book on elements of baseball is both wise and fun, illuminating and entertaining." --ROBERT ADAIR, author of The Physics of Baseball "The essential last word for every fan who loves to debate baseball fact and fiction." --MICHAEL SHAPIRO, author of The Last Good Season

Author Biography

PAUL ARON is the author of Unsolved Mysteries of American History, Unsolved Mysteries of History, and More Unsolved Mysteries of American History, all from Wiley. He is also an award-winning reporter for the Virginia Gazette.

Table of Contents

Preface.

1. Who Invented Baseball?

2. Who Was the First Black in the Majors?

3. Who Was Casey at the Bat?

4. Was Ed Delahanty Murdered?

5. Did Merkle Touch Second?

6. Did Cobb Win the 1910 Batting Race?

7. Did Shoeless Joe Throw the Series?

8. What Caused Ruth’s “Bellyache”?

9. What Caused the Home Run Surge?

10. Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot?

11. Was Moe Berg a Spy?

12. What Caused the Feud between Williams and the Press?

13. Why Did Rickey Sign Robinson?

14. How Old Was Satchel Paige?

15. Did Thomson Steal Branca’s Sign?

16. Why Did the Dodgers Move?

17. Why Didn’t Castro Sign with the Senators?

18. Why Was Steinbrenner Banned?

19. What Took the Red Sox So Long?

20. Why Can’t the Cubs Win?

21. Who Threw the Spitter?

22. Does a Curveball Curve?

23. Where Did “Fungo” Come From?

24. Can Small-Market Teams Compete?

25. Does Clutch Hitting Exist?

26. Were Yesterday’s Players Better?

27. Do Managers Matter?

28. Does It Pay to Steal?

Index.