Mike Shannon is the co-founder and current editor-in-chief of Spitball magazine. The author of more than a dozen baseball books, he lives in Cincinnati.

“poignant, utterly entertaining...makes fans remember that the game is supposed to be fun”—Booklist; “a most unusual and engaging subject...all true, but it reads like whimsical novel”—USA Today Sports Weekly; “Mike Shannon is a name well known to serious baseball fans...humorous”—Sports Collectors Digest; “the pace of the book matched perfectly the leisurely pace of a summer evening ball game...Mike can just flat-out write...engaging...it’s a story worth telling, and Mike Shannon tells it well”—Spitball; “everybody has a favorite story about McLeary. Nobody adheres to the mantra about keeping the game fun quite like this umpire, who is so well known that he’s on a first-name basis with fans”—Cincinnati Enquirer.

Mike Shannon is the co-founder and current editor-in-chief of Spitball magazine. The author of more than a dozen baseball books, he lives in Cincinnati.

“poignant, utterly entertaining...makes fans remember that the game is supposed to be fun”—Booklist; “a most unusual and engaging subject...all true, but it reads like whimsical novel”—USA Today Sports Weekly; “Mike Shannon is a name well known to serious baseball fans...humorous”—Sports Collectors Digest; “the pace of the book matched perfectly the leisurely pace of a summer evening ball game...Mike can just flat-out write...engaging...it’s a story worth telling, and Mike Shannon tells it well”—Spitball; “everybody has a favorite story about McLeary. Nobody adheres to the mantra about keeping the game fun quite like this umpire, who is so well known that he’s on a first-name basis with fans”—Cincinnati Enquirer.

Mike Shannon is the co-founder and current editor-in-chief of Spitball magazine. The author of more than a dozen baseball books, he lives in Cincinnati.

“poignant, utterly entertaining...makes fans remember that the game is supposed to be fun”—Booklist; “a most unusual and engaging subject...all true, but it reads like whimsical novel”—USA Today Sports Weekly; “Mike Shannon is a name well known to serious baseball fans...humorous”—Sports Collectors Digest; “the pace of the book matched perfectly the leisurely pace of a summer evening ball game...Mike can just flat-out write...engaging...it’s a story worth telling, and Mike Shannon tells it well”—Spitball; “everybody has a favorite story about McLeary. Nobody adheres to the mantra about keeping the game fun quite like this umpire, who is so well known that he’s on a first-name basis with fans”—Cincinnati Enquirer.