Few and Chosen Negro Leagues: Defining Negro Leagues Greatness - Hardcover

Irvin, Monte; Pepe, Phil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 157243855X ISBN 13: 9781572438552

Publisher: Triumph Books, 2007

Synopsis

Monte Irvin, a New York Giants star player who got his start in the Negro Leagues, pays homage to baseball's unsung heroes and long-forgotten stars by selecting the top five players at each position and the top five managers, owners, pioneers, or organizers from the Negro Leagues.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

They are baseball's unsung heroes--mostly overlooked, unheralded, and underappreciated. They played in front of meager crowds, on rudimentary fields, and in small towns across the United States, and most of them never got the chance to display their talents on baseball's grandest stage--the major leagues.

They are the great stars of the Negro Leagues, most of whom played their entire careers during a time when black men were denied the opportunity to compete on the same field as white players. But what a Dream Team they were!

Imagine what it would be like to handpick a team from all the gifted athletes who wore the Negro Leagues uniforms and traveled those dusty roads--and to assemble a lineup using only the very best players from that elite group. Would you select "Smokey" Joe Williams--generally regarded as the best pitcher in Negro Leagues history--as your top right-handed starting pitcher? Or would that honor go to the incomparable and seemingly ageless Satchel Paige? Maybe the most deserving is Leon Day, a much lesser-known player who happens to have the highest winning percentage (.708) of any pitcher in the Hall of Fame.

At second base, your choices would obviously include the immortal Jackie Robinson--who played only a few months in the Negro Leagues before embarking on his world-changing, Hall of Fame major league career--but they would also include a fellow by the name of Sammy T. Hughes, who many say was the best defensive second baseman to play in any league.

No one is better equipped to make these difficult decisions and engage in these entertaining debates than Monte Irvin. Young enough to get his chance in the majors in 1949, he became a star for the New York Giants and received baseball's highest honor when he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973, but he has never forgotten his Negro Leagues roots. In Few and Chosen: Defining Negro Leagues Greatness, he rates the greatest players of all time at each position. Most readers will recognize the names of Robinson, Paige, and the like--those who went on to find fame outside of the Negro Leagues--but many readers will be introduced for the first time to the players who truly paved the roads for those future superstars but did so in relative obscurity. Collaborating with longtime sportswriter Phil Pepe, Irvin pays homage to some of baseball's greatest stars and recalls some heartwarming--as well as heart-wrenching--stories from an era gone by.

[with photo] Like many great black athletes of his time, Monte Irvin played out most of his Hall of Fame career in the Negro Leagues. However, he played an instrumental role during his eight seasons with the New York Giants, helping them win two pennants. Irvin started his professional baseball career in the Negro Leagues at the age of 17. He quickly developed into a power-hitting, smooth-fielding, base-stealing triple threat. His finest season in the major leagues was probably 1951, when he led the National League in RBIs and achieved the rare feat of stealing home in the World Series.

About the Author:

Monte Irvin is a former player in the Negro Leagues and a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He played in the major leagues for the New York Giants for eight seasons, helping them win two pennants. His finest season in the major leagues was 1951, when he led the National League in RBI and achieved the rare feat of stealing home in the World Series. Phil Pepe is the author of more than 40 books on sports, including collaborations with Yankees legends Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, and Whitey Ford. He is a former Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News and a former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

About this edition

• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 157243855X
• ISBN 13: 9781572438552
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240