Early Wynn The Go Go White Sox And The 1959 World Series

This is the story of how the hapless Chicago White Sox, badly hurt by the banning of players after the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, floundered until the 1950s when they were finally rebuilt and had their first success in 40 years. The culminating event was the capture of the 1959 American League pennant, made possible by aging pitcher Early Wynn. Wynn, nearly 40, was the best pitcher in the game that season, winning 22 games and the Cy Young Award. He was the last piece in the puzzle that put the Sox over the top and, in addition to the team's historic season, the book tracks his life before, during and after baseball.

 Charter members of the American League and the country's last "neighborhood" pro baseball franchise, the White Sox are one of the few teams of the power hitting-focused modern era to win a pennant with speed, pitching and defense. Covering the 1959 White Sox from a range of perspectives, the author examines the club's historical importance to Chicago and the significance of the '59 "South Side Series"--the first in 40 years. Many behind-the-scenes details are discussed, from the refined media markets of Golden Age baseball to the team's ancillary sources of revenue to the bitter legal feud between Charles Comiskey and Bill Veeck.

Everything About Everybody on the Go-Go Sox The 1959 Chicago White Sox broke a 40-year pennant drought on the city's South Side, begun after the 1919 Black Sox scandal. The scrappy Go-Go Sox, with pitching, fielding and timely hitting, finally overcame the New York Yankees' dominance of the American League, only to lose to the LA Dodgers in the World Series. Go-Go to Glory is a tribute to the men of that Go-Go Sox team. More than a simple memoir of a memorable season, it provides an in-depth look at an entire era of baseball through the prism of one remarkable team in Chicago. Here you'll find original biographies of every single player, coach, broadcaster and key front-office personnel who contributed to the magical 1959 season, as well as appreciations of the 1950s White Sox by fans and historians. The book features individual lifetime biographies of owner Bill Veeck, manager Al Lopez, and the following players, coaches and management of the 1959 White Sox: Luis Aparicio / Rodolfo Arias / Earl Battey / Ray Berres / Ray Boone / Johnny Callison / Camilo Carreon / Norm Cash / Johnny Cooney / Tony Cuccinello / Larry Doby / Dick Donovan / Del Ennis / Sammy Esposito / Nellie Fox / Billy Goodman / Hank Greenberg / Don Gutteridge / Joe Hicks / Ron Jackson / Ted Kluszewski / Jim Landis / Barry Latman / Sherm Lollar / Turk Lown / J.C. Martin / Jim McAnany / Ken McBride/ Ray Moore / Don Mueller / Gary Peters / Bubba Phillips / Billy Pierce / Claude Raymond / Jim Rivera / John Romano / Don Rudolph / BobShaw / Harry Simpson / Lou Skizas / Al Smith / Jerry Staley / Joe Stanka / Earl Torgeson / Early Wynn A project of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), this volume gathers the collective efforts of more than 40 SABR members and friends of this nonprofit research society.

On the Evening of September 22, 1959, Gerry Staley was called out of the Chicago bullpen before a crowd of 54,293 hostile fans in Cleveland's cavernous Municipal Stadium. Chicago had a slim two-run lead, but the bases were loaded with Indians and only one was out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Staley, with ice-water running through his veins, placed his first pitch, a hard sinker, low in the strike zone on the outside corner of the plate. Cleveland's free-swinging, left-handed Vic Power swung and slashed a hard ground ball to Chicago shortstop Luis Aparicio. Aparicio glided to his left, gloved the ball, stepped on second and rifled the ball to Kluszewski at first. One pitch, two outs and the Chicago dugout erupted in spontaneous celebration. The 4-2, down-to-the-wire triumph brought the Chicago White Sox its first American League pennant in forty years.

Accompanied by hundreds of photgraphs, illustrations and tables, this reference to America's pastime is filled with historical, statistical, and personal information on the Major Leagues, Minor Leagues, Negro Leagues, Collegiate Baseball, International Leagues, and Youth Baseball, featuring baseball facts and trivia, complete profiles on the top 1,000 players of all time, and more.

This is the story of the 1959 Dodgers, a team that rose above its disastrous first season on the West Coast for an out-of-nowhere World Series title. One of baseball's greatest underdog champions, the '59 Dodgers were a rag-tag team made of long shots salvaged from the minor leagues and over-the-hill ballplayers who reached back for one final triumph. After surviving a thrilling three team pennant race, they met fellow long shots the Chicago White Sox in an underdog World Series. Here, the team's story is recounted in detail, with game-by-game highlights, and set against the cultural backdrop of the civil rights movement, the Cold War, and the rock and roll cultural revolution.