Pitching in a Pinch: or Baseball from the Inside - Softcover

Mathewson, Christy

  • 3.72 out of 5 stars
    355 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780803282124: Pitching in a Pinch: or Baseball from the Inside
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0803282125 ISBN 13: 9780803282124
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 1994

Synopsis

Christy Mathewson (1880–1925) was the greatest baseball pitcher of his day, a hero with appeal reaching beyond sports. A college-educated player from Pennsylvania farm country, he restored respectability to a game tarnished by the rowdies who had dominated baseball in the 1890s.

Pitching in a Pinch, originally published in 1912, is an insider’s account blending anecdote, biography, instruction, and social history. It celebrates baseball as it was played in the first decade of the twentieth century by famous contemporaries like Honus Wagner and Rube Marquand, managers like John McGraw and Connie Mack, and many others. Always sensitive to psychology as well as technique, Mathewson describes the “dangerous batters” he faced, the “peculiarities” of big-league pitchers, the “good and bad” of coaching, umpiring, sign-stealing, base-running, spring training, and the importance of superstition to athletes. Matty, as he was called, makes the reader feel that tense moment when a player in a pinch must use his head.

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About the Author

Introducing this Bison Books edition is Eric Rolfe Greenberg, whose acclaimed novel The Celebrant (1993), also a Bison Book, portrays the immortal Christy Mathewson.

Reviews

Better known for his many history titles, Gerlach in 1980 took a look at America's favorite pastime's most unfavorite people-the umpires. Gerlach profiles a dozen National and American Leaguers who together umped the game from 1920 to 1970. Steamboat Johnson's 1935 volume offers a more personal glimpse at umping as the author recalls his 25 years of "standing the gaff"-enduring the fury of fans and players. Mathewson's star-studded 1912 volume offers anecdotes on then-famous players as well as tips on playing the game that he picked up as a star pitcher for the New York Giants and several other teams in the early 1900s.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
Publication date
1994
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0803282125
ISBN 13 
9780803282124
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
320
Rating
  • 3.72 out of 5 stars
    355 ratings by Goodreads