Baseball Heaven

Peter Golenbock has written more than sixty books, including ten New York Times best sellers. His books on baseball include Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964; The Bronx Zoo (with Sparky Lyle); Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers; Balls (with Graig Nettles); Amazin’: The Miraculous History of New York’s Most Beloved Baseball Team; and Whispers of the Gods: Tales from Baseball’s Golden Age, Told by the Men Who Played It. He resides in St. Petersburg, FL.

Prolific baseball writer Golenbock’s success in sports writing has largely been attributed to his talent for conducting interviews, especially his ability to ask the right questions and develop trust with his subjects. In this behind-the-scenes look at baseball history, he quotes heavily, including raw details, from the manuscripts of his interviews with a number of lesser-known characters who have firsthand knowledge of famous baseball events and players. Golenbock’s interviewees include the Brooklyn Dodgers owner who signed Jackie Robinson, the first Black major-league baseball player, to his team; the pitcher responsible for Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run that became the “shot heard ’round the world”; a player from the notoriously bad early New York Mets team, who began playing in 1962; and the late baseball player Gary Carter, who elucidates the inner workings of the wildly successful 1986 season in which the Mets won their second World Series. A wonderfully distinctive and intriguing baseball history with something of a New York bent. With its personal feel and near-mystical quality, this highly recommended work will mesmerize baseball lovers and casual fans.

• ForewordIntroductionChapter 1: Elden Auker: “I’d like to see you throw directly underhand.”Chapter 2: Elden Auker: Ole Diz, Mickey Cochrane, and Hammering HankChapter 3: Elden Auker: Joe Cronin Drives Him CrazyChapter 4: Johnny Pesky: Pesky Holds the BallChapter 5: Albert Happy Chandler: “I will allow Jackie Robinson to play for Brooklyn”Chapter 6: Del Webb: “Would you be interested in buying the Yankees?”Chapter 7: Del Webb: Stengel and Weiss and VictoryChapter 8: Ralph Branca: The Ace of the StaffChapter 9: Ralph Branca: The Shot Heard Round the WorldChapter 10: Bobby Thomson: The Shot Heard Round the WorldChapter 11: Donald Hall: My Love of the Brooklyn DodgersChapter 12: Elston Howard: For the Yankees, the FirstChapter 13: Hot Rod Kanehl: Casey’s PetChapter 14: Rod Kanehl: I Was an Original MetChapter 15: Dock Ellis: A Life on the EdgeChapter 16: Dock Ellis: Cocaine and Yankee TurbulenceChapter 17: Gary Carter: The Missing IngredientChapter 18: Gary Carter: The Ball Goes Through Buckner’s Legs