There was indeed a Pearson and the hot shot he had to beat out was Slick Hammill. I think there was a Devlin in another book. Or not.

There was. Here's a summary from Decker's Bookshare page* --

Fast Man on a Pivot

Blue Sox 5. Bud Walker must compete for a spot with the flashy Devlin, power hitter. Can he make it?


*That I see shows up as blank when I go back to it.

Therefore ...

The Big Stretch
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 6. Ex-bat-boy, Buster Stookey can become the next 1st baseman if he can overcome the obstacles in his path.

Copyright: 1952
The Catcher From Double-A
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 4. Pete Gibbs once showed promise, but what's left after WWII?

Copyright: 1950
Fast Man on a Pivot
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 5. Bud Walker must compete for a spot with the flashy Devlin, power hitter. Can he make it?

Copyright: 1951
Good Field, No Hit
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 1 Can an excellent be more valuable to a team than a classic power hitter?

Copyright: 1947
The Grand-Slam Kid
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 13. Bucky has an image of himself he has to live up to with serious consequences.

Copyright: 1964
Hit and Run
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 3. Chip, place hitter, has to replace, the team's star power hitter. Can he? Will the fans let him?

Copyright: 1949
Long Ball to Left Field
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 9. A baseball story about how to tell what dreams to follow.

Copyright: 1958
Mister Shortstop
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 8. Andy Pearson, highly hyped rookie to hanging n vet. But he has a chance with the Sox.

Copyright: 1954
Rebel In Right Field
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 12. Danny Redd has to decide to deal with his fears to play ball.

Copyright: 1961
Showboat Southpaw
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 11. Sam has the tools, but does he have the confidence to play for the Sox.

Copyright: 1960
Starting Pitcher
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 2. Ed Lasky used to be a all-star shortstop. Can he change posisions at the big league level?

Copyright: 1948
Switch Hitter
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 7. Russ Woodward, baseball phenom, has all the talent, but has to deal with his past.

Copyright: 1953
Third-Base Rookie
by Duane Decker

Blue Sox 10. A boy's past gets between him and his ambitions of playing pro baseball.

Copyright: 1959

The team player always triumphed over the flashy player. Small ball won out over power hitting. Seemed odd to me for a guy born in 1911 who presumbably became a fan in the twenties.

Bouton and Asinof co-wrote a baseball mystery called "Strike Out" about 15 years ago. It revolved around a pitcher who was supposed to take a dive and an umpire who wasn't on the level either. I picked it up in a bargain bin and I couldn't put it down once I started. The book came up in a discussion with my baseball teammates a couple of years later and a teammate stated the same thing....'Okay. One more chapter then I will call it a night.....etc."

The team player always triumphed over the flashy player. Small ball won out over power hitting. Seemed odd to me for a guy born in 1911 who presumbably became a fan in the twenties.

Still, he would've been around 9 by the time the dead ball era was coming to a close.

Am I the first person to mention The Echoing Green? I really enjoyed that, as much as just about any baseball book I've read in recent years.

no love for 'bums'? its a great book, especially the part about bringing robinson onto the club.

Nobody has mentioned, "You Know Me, Al" by Ring Lardner probably the one book next to Coover's that has been taken the most seriously by literary critics through the years.

I have to say, I think this is somewhat overrated, mostly because it's not a novel. If you read it as a series of humor articles in the newspaper, as Lardner wrote it, it's probably hugely entertaining. Reading it straight through as a novel gets tedious, because Jack Keefe doesn't develop as a character at all, and just naively does the same stupid stuff over and over again.

My favorite piece of baseball fiction is "Batting Against Castro," Jim Shepard's account of some former major leaguers who go down to play in Cuba in the 1950s. But that's a short story.

Nobody has mentioned, "You Know Me, Al" by Ring Lardner probably the one book next to Coover's that has been taken the most seriously by literary critics through the years.

I have to say, I think this is somewhat overrated, mostly because it's not a novel. If you read it as a series of humor articles in the newspaper, as Lardner wrote it, it's probably hugely entertaining.

Totally agree with that distinction, which is why this contemporary cartoon strip collection of those stories is by far the best edition to get. The illustrations capture Keefe's cluelessness as no mere words ever could.

My favorite piece of baseball fiction is "Batting Against Castro," Jim Shepard's account of some former major leaguers who go down to play in Cuba in the 1950s. But that's a short story.

That rings one heckuva bell. I must've read it.

I agree with 108 and 109. Lardner was a sprinter, not a long-distance runner. He's a true master of the short story and short piece. You Know Me, Al gets tiresome if read as if a novel. I disagree, though, about Jack Keefe's character not developing. He does; he becomes gradually more unlikable. The main supporting characters (especially the women) are disagreeable, too. The book comes across best in small doses.

The Natural has been shamefully overlooked, probably because of all the folderol associated with the movie. It's certainly much better than that Field of Dreams crap.

Nobody has mentioned, "You Know Me, Al" by Ring Lardner probably the one book next to Coover's that has been taken the most seriously by literary critics through the years.


I have to say, I think this is somewhat overrated, mostly because it's not a novel. If you read it as a series of humor articles in the newspaper, as Lardner wrote it, it's probably hugely entertaining. Reading it straight through as a novel gets tedious, because Jack Keefe doesn't develop as a character at all, and just naively does the same stupid stuff over and over again.

I always thought Alibi Ike was better than YKMA, but it's not a novel--just a long short story

I vaguely remember a novel where a guy goes back in time to the 1870s or so and plays baseball. The only thing I remember is that he tries to explain batting average to them and they think he is nuts.

"Alibi Ike" is soopurb.

You Know Me, Al is an accomplishment--it's just sort of a cold and unaffecting thing. Lardner is much more bitter and acidly satiric with no letup than, say, James Thurber. And the does progress career-wise in an episodic way from the minors on up. Al gets a girlfriend, a wife, a baby. Everybody, even the baby, I think, is a pain in the ass. What ultimately gets most tiresome is Keefe's always blaming others. He's always got an excuse for his failures and deficiencies--like Ike, but the joke sours on itself in YKMA.

"Alibi Ike" is soopurb.

On April 18, TCM is showing 8 straight baseball movies, including the Joe E. Brown baseball trilogy of Fireman, Save My Child, Elmer The Great, and Alibi Ike. The rest of the day's schedule goes downhill from there with the usual tired old chestnuts, but as a period piece The Jackie Robinson Story (with Jackie playing himself) is worth checking out.

Have Gun--Will Travel, "Out At The Old Ball Park"

I remember this as a great comic episode in the series. Paladin agrees to umpire a game between a traveling baseball team and a made from scratch hometwon team that tends to erupt into violence. I tried to find it on youtube but was unsuccessful. Highly recommended from memory, but it has been 50 years since I last saw it.

I vaguely remember a novel where a guy goes back in time to the 1870s or so and plays baseball. The only thing I remember is that he tries to explain batting average to them and they think he is nuts.

Darryl Brock's If I Never Get Back, sounds like.

On April 18, TCM is showing 8 straight baseball movies, including the Joe E. Brown baseball trilogy of Fireman, Save My Child, Elmer The Great, and Alibi Ike. The rest of the day's schedule goes downhill from there with the usual tired old chestnuts, but as a period piece The Jackie Robinson Story (with Jackie playing himself) is worth checking out.

I suspect they do this every year around Opening Day. I taped a similar sequence about 8 years ago, back when I had cable.

Another book which is on my list is by "Cult Baseball Players" by Danny Peary. Various people wrote why they admired various players....John Sayles on Dick Stuart, Jim Kaat on Dick Allen, Gammons on Tiant, IIRC George Thorogood on Vada Pinson, Danny Peary on Vic Power, other players discussed....Fidrych, Bill Lee, George Kell, Tony C., Jimmy Piersell, Joe Charboneau, Dusty Rhodes, the collection of players is diverse from stars to minor leaguers (Steve Dalkowski by Ron Shelton)

Another book which is on my list is by "Cult Baseball Players" by Danny Peary.

Totally. Great pick!

Danny Peary's three "Cult Movies" books are great as well.

The mentioning of Ring Lardner's name gives me an excuse to recommend that people read anything they can find by Ring's son, John Lardner, maybe the best sports columnist of the 20th century.

This is a good start:
The John Lardner Reader: A Press Box Legend's Classic Sportswriting

On April 18, TCM is showing 8 straight baseball movies, including the Joe E. Brown baseball trilogy of Fireman, Save My Child, Elmer The Great, and Alibi Ike. The rest of the day's schedule goes downhill from there with the usual tired old chestnuts, but as a period piece The Jackie Robinson Story (with Jackie playing himself) is worth checking out.

I suspect they do this every year around Opening Day. I taped a similar sequence about 8 years ago, back when I had cable.

They do, and the only reason I mentioned it this time around was because they're running all three of the Joe E. Brown baseball movies back-to-back-to-back, whereas usually they just show one or two. One of them (I think it's Alibi Ike) features a home night game by the Cubs, more than half a century before Wrigley Field installed lights!