THE  BOOKS  OF  SUMMER  2004

Seventh Year Brings a Treasure Trove of Nostalgia 

The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the only ballplayer biography ever named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and an anthology of masterful fiction from baseball’s infancy fulfill the nostalgia-lover’s fantasy as forthcoming titles in the acclaimed Writing Baseball series, published by Southern Illinois University Press and now in its seventh year.

To a generation of fans, Willie Mays was the greatest ballplayer they had ever seen. The prowess and speed of the Say Hey Kid were unmatched on the diamond before his time, prompting Joe DiMaggio to label him, “the closest you can come to perfection.” Originally published in 1979, Willie’s Time: Baseball’s Golden Age stands as the icon’s definitive biography. With a new preface by the author, the twenty-fifth anniversary edition restores to print Charles Einstein’s vivid replaying of the most dramatic moments of the Say Hey Kid’s career—from the 1951 Miracle Giants to the Amazing Mets of 1973—and takes us inside the lives of Ruth, DiMaggio, Aaron, Durocher, and others along the way.

Before Willie’s time on the field, and indeed before the term “baseball” even existed, stories were being crafted about this most American of athletics and the lore it engendered among its bugs (the original term for fans). Edited by Trey Strecker, Dead Balls and Double Curves: An Anthology of Early Baseball Fiction collects twenty-two classic stories from baseball’s youth, presented in chronological order to capture the development of the sport and its literature. Many of these tales have never before been reprinted, adding historical value to the rich literary merits of this anthology. Dead Balls and Double Curves presents a lineup of first-division writers, including Mark Twain, Frank Norris, Bliss Perry, Burt L. Standish, Edna Ferber, and the game’s poet laureate, Ring Lardner.  

Since 1998, Spring at Southern Illinois University Press has meant new entries in the acclaimed Writing Baseball series, edited by Richard Peterson. The nineteen previous publications in this series include:

• The Chicago Cubs by Warren Brown 

• The Boston Red Sox by Frederick G. Lieb

• The Pittsburgh Pirates by Frederick G. Lieb

• The St. Louis Cardinals: The Story of a Great Baseball Club by Frederick G. Lieb

• The New York Yankees: An Informal History by Frank Graham

• The Brooklyn Dodgers: An Informal History by Frank Graham

• The New York Giants: An Informal History of a Great Baseball Club by Frank Graham

• Bottom of the Ninth: Great Contemporary Baseball Short Stories edited by John McNally 

• Line Drives: 100 Contemporary Baseball Poems edited by Brooke Horvath and Tim Wiles

• The American Game: Baseball and Ethnicity edited by Lawrence Baldassaro and Richard A. Johnson

• Baseball’s Natural: The Story of Eddie Waitkus by John Theodore

• My Baseball Diary by James T. Farrell

• The American Game, Second Edition by Alfred H. Spink 

• Off-Season by Eliot Anisof

• Man on Spikes by Eliot Anisof

• Full Count: Inside Cuban Baseball by Milton Jamail

• The Best Seat in Baseball, But You Have to Stand!: The Game as Umpires See It by Lee Gutkind

• Owning a Piece of the Minors by Jerry Klinkowitz

Writing Baseball publishes baseball books of literary quality in all narrative forms including fiction, history, biography, poetry, and creative nonfiction. It include new baseball writing of imagination and insight while republishing out-of-print books of literary merit. 

Series editor Richard Peterson has selected a board of eight editors who certainly qualify as all stars among baseball writers:  Lee Gutkind, Don Johnson, Jerry Klinkowitz, Christian K. Messenger, Elinor Nauen, Ray Robinson, Mike Shannon, and Timothy Wiles.

Richard Peterson is a professor emeritus and former chair of the English Department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His books include Extra Innings: Writing on Baseball and The Pirates Reader.

Available through booksellers everywhere or

 directly from Southern Illinois University Press