Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors
There was a time when no town was too small to field a professional baseball team. In 1949, the high point for the minor leagues, there were 59 leagues and 464 cities with teams, two-thirds of them in so-called bush leagues classified as C and D. Most of the players were strangers outside the towns where they played, but some achieved hero status and enthralled local fans as much as the stars in the majors.

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors profiles some of the most fascinating characters from baseball’s golden era. It includes the stories of players such as Ron Necciai, the only pitcher in history to strike out 27 batters in a single game; Joe Brovia, one of the most feared hitters to ever play in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), who had to wait 15 years for a shot in the majors; and Pat Stasey, a mellow Irishman who “Cubanized” minor league baseball in Texas and New Mexico, helping to bring down the walls of segregation. Compelling and timeless, their stories touch on many issues that still affect the sport today.

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues provides an entertaining glimpse into a time when baseball was a game and the players were regular guys who often held second jobs off the field. Featuring hundreds of personal interviews with the players, their teammates, managers, and opponents, this bookcreates a colorful tapestry of the minor leagues during the 1950s and 60s.
1129784521
Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors
There was a time when no town was too small to field a professional baseball team. In 1949, the high point for the minor leagues, there were 59 leagues and 464 cities with teams, two-thirds of them in so-called bush leagues classified as C and D. Most of the players were strangers outside the towns where they played, but some achieved hero status and enthralled local fans as much as the stars in the majors.

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors profiles some of the most fascinating characters from baseball’s golden era. It includes the stories of players such as Ron Necciai, the only pitcher in history to strike out 27 batters in a single game; Joe Brovia, one of the most feared hitters to ever play in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), who had to wait 15 years for a shot in the majors; and Pat Stasey, a mellow Irishman who “Cubanized” minor league baseball in Texas and New Mexico, helping to bring down the walls of segregation. Compelling and timeless, their stories touch on many issues that still affect the sport today.

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues provides an entertaining glimpse into a time when baseball was a game and the players were regular guys who often held second jobs off the field. Featuring hundreds of personal interviews with the players, their teammates, managers, and opponents, this bookcreates a colorful tapestry of the minor leagues during the 1950s and 60s.
45.0 In Stock
Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors

by Gaylon H. White
Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors

by Gaylon H. White

Hardcover

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Overview

There was a time when no town was too small to field a professional baseball team. In 1949, the high point for the minor leagues, there were 59 leagues and 464 cities with teams, two-thirds of them in so-called bush leagues classified as C and D. Most of the players were strangers outside the towns where they played, but some achieved hero status and enthralled local fans as much as the stars in the majors.

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors profiles some of the most fascinating characters from baseball’s golden era. It includes the stories of players such as Ron Necciai, the only pitcher in history to strike out 27 batters in a single game; Joe Brovia, one of the most feared hitters to ever play in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), who had to wait 15 years for a shot in the majors; and Pat Stasey, a mellow Irishman who “Cubanized” minor league baseball in Texas and New Mexico, helping to bring down the walls of segregation. Compelling and timeless, their stories touch on many issues that still affect the sport today.

Left on Base in the Bush Leagues provides an entertaining glimpse into a time when baseball was a game and the players were regular guys who often held second jobs off the field. Featuring hundreds of personal interviews with the players, their teammates, managers, and opponents, this bookcreates a colorful tapestry of the minor leagues during the 1950s and 60s.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781538123652
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 05/30/2019
Pages: 380
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Gaylon H. White was a sportswriter for the Denver Post, Arizona Republic and Oklahoma Journal before working in the corporate world for nearly forty years. He is the author of The Bilko Athletic Club: The Story of the 1956 Los Angeles Angels (2014) and Singles and Smiles: How Artie Wilson Broke Baseball’s Color Barrier (2018), and co-author with Ransom Jackson of Handsome Ransom Jackson: Accidental Big Leaguer (2016), all published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Table of Contents

Foreword Wes Parker ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xix

1 Bushes and Rushers: Three Bush League Legends and Two Unknowns 1

2 Following a Dream: Walter Buckel and the "Biggest Little Baseball City in the United States" 13

3 Round Trip to Nowhere: Bob "Round Trip" Crues 35

4 The Man Who Wore the Texaco Star: Joe Bauman 57

5 Father, Son, and Little League: Tom and Tommy Jordan 87

6 The Mellow Irishman's Merry Band of Cubans: Pat Stasey and the Big Spring Broncs 111

7 The Bobo and Jojo Show: Bobo Newsom and Joe Engel 135

8 "A Boy Named Kingston": Al Pinkston 161

9 Playing Drunk: Joe Taylor 181

10 A Whiff of the Big Time: Joe Brovia 207

11 Unwanted: Bob Dillinger 235

12 Made for Hollywood: Carlos Bernier 263

13 A Tale of Two Legends: Ron Necciai and Steve Dalkowski 291

Notes 319

Bibliography 335

Index 337

About the Author 357

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