Len Levin – författare

Over the years, millions have dreamed of playing major-league baseball, but only around 20,000 players have put on a big-league uniform. Some had lengthy careers, some much briefer-including a surprising number who had just one base hit: close to 1,400 of them. Some of these "one-hit wonders" were pitchers, and not expected to hit-though right-hander Fred Gladding had 68 plate appearances with just one hit. Others simply had short careers, like Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, a real-life figure depicted in Field of Dreams whose only major-league appearance consisted of a half-inning.

More than 50 SABR researchers, authors, and editors contributed to this book and present brief biographies of 70 players, telling the stories of some who might otherwise be overlooked-but who made the grade and got exactly one hit in the majors. Center fielder Skeeter Skelton had 43 plate appearances but just one hit. Gene Woodburn had just one hit, but four career RBIs (and the hit was not a grand slam). Thirteen others have three RBIS apiece. There were 22 players whose one and only hit was a home run. There were 22 whose hit was a triple, and quite a number-179-whose only hit was a double.

For some, their only hit came on their first at-bat. Others had to wait a lot longer (Gladding''s hit came in his 50th plate appearance). Pitcher Arthur Rhodes played in exactly 900 big-league games (and 29 postseason games), with one base hit to his credit. Some stuck around the game, like Rod Dedeaux, who became one of the most celebrated amateur baseball coaches in history, coaching at USC for 45 years. Others, like a USC alum whom Dedeaux coached, Dan Ardell, would end up in other industries. When asked if he''d had two hits in the major leagues, instead of just one, if he thought his story wouldn''t have been as interesting, Ardell replied, "I think that''s exactly true."

One-Hit Wonders presents a variety of life stories, and adds a few dozen more biographies to SABR''s BioProject, has published biographies of over 5,000 figures involved with baseball.

Canadian baseball has a rich, diverse, and deeply rooted history, one that spans fully two centuries. As was true in the United States, the stories reflect the competitive and entrepreneurial spirits of a rapidly changing time. Baseball''s development north of the border was shaped by the same social and economic influences, and at roughly the same times, as it was to the south. Arranged chronologically, the essays in his volume tell the tales of the influential figures and milestone events that defined and directed the game''s growth in Canada. The articles shine a spotlight on the movers and shakers, the pioneers, the leagues and games and tournaments, and the regions all across the country that hosted them.

Crowds as large as 10,000 viewed matches between London and Guelph in the 1870s, at a time when the combined population of the two cities was less than 27,000. Thousands flocked to Vancouver''s Powell Street Grounds in the 1920s and 1930s to watch their local heroes, the Asahi, a team of Japanese Canadians. The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team played their first game in 1895. Almost 100 years later, over four million people would spin the turnstiles to see the Toronto Blue Jays. Canadians played in the Negro Leagues and in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGBPL), and Canada has been home to both affiliated minor leagues and "outlaw" leagues.

This book is an initiative of the Centre for Canadian Baseball Research and the Hanlan''s Point (Greater Toronto) Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. It is the collaborative effort of more than 30 SABR members, almost all of them Canadian.

The 1992 Toronto Blue Jays will always be remembered as the first World Series-winning club based outside the United States and the first from Canada. Before that memorable season, the Blue Jays were respected as consistent contenders, the team never seemed able to win a championship. After winning the division in 1991, the 1992 club confidently adopted "We Are, We Can, We Will" as their team motto, indicative of their unshakable belief that they were capable of winning the American League pennant and then the World Series.

They were right. When Joe Carter caught the final out of the World Series in Atlanta, he touched off a celebration in Toronto and across Canada for baseball fans who had waited many years for the Blue Jays to finally hoist the Commissioner''s Trophy.

"We Are, We Can, We Will" features biographies of every player who played for the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays including Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Jack Morris, and Roberto Alomar. Manager Cito Gaston, Hall of Fame general manager Pat Gillick, and radio broadcaster Tom Cheek are also included, as well as a "ballpark biography" of SkyDome, Toronto''s home ballpark. Ten reports describe significant games from the 1992 season illustrating Toronto''s championship journey from Opening Day to the last game of the World Series. The book concludes with an essay on the Blue Jays celebratory visits to Washington, DC, and Ottawa, and an article on how team management deftly reshaped the roster in the winter to prepare Toronto for another successful championship drive in 1993.

This book is the result of a collaborative effort by 53 SABR members, many from the Hanlan''s Point (Toronto) SABR Chapter.