Top 10 Pitchers In Baseball

This high-interest, topical book is full of stats, photos, and fun facts about the top ten pitchers in baseball, including their backgrounds, nicknames, teams, positions, and years of note.

This high-interest, topical book is full of stats, photos, and fun facts about the top ten pitchers in baseball, including their backgrounds, nicknames, teams, positions, and years of note.

"A collective biography of the top 10 pitchers, both past and present, which includes accounts of game action, career statistics, and more"--Provided by publisher

Comparing major league players has always been a popular topic among baseball fans. Debating the strengths and weaknesses of such greats as Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, or Tom Seaver and Greg Maddux continues to stir up controversy among fans eager to champion their heroes. In Baseball’s Top 10, Bob Kuenster has compiled a ranking of the game’s best players by position, highlighting the achievements of nearly 300 individuals. In addition to the top 10, Kuenster includes Honorable Mentions—players who were considered but didn’t make the final list—and Dishonorable Mentions—players who were left off the rankings due to alleged steroid and performance enhancing drug use. Drawing upon original interviews conducted by the author, this ranking reveals the best players in major league history as seen through the eyes of former players, managers, and announcers. Player entries include biographical information, individual achievements, stats, and quotes. Organized by position—first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field, right field, catcher, designated hitters, multi-position players, right-handed starting pitchers, left-handed starting pitchers, and closers—280 outstanding players made the cut as the most elite pitchers, hitters, and fielders in MLB history. Baseball’s Top 10 features interviews with some of baseball’s greatest personalities—including players who have since passed, such as Al Lopez, Bob Feller, Stan Musial, Lou Boudreau, Andy Pafko, Ron Santo, Harry Caray and Harry Kalas. With over 50 photographs and a comprehensive list of suggested titles for further reading, this book is sure to interest baseball fans and historians who love to debate the many outstanding players who have appeared in the major leagues.

What does a good pitcher need to be considered one of the ten best who ever played? Style, control, willingness to take risks, and the ability to strike out batters. Reluctant readers will want to read the profiles of strike-out kings including Grover C. Alexander, Roger Clemens, Bob Gibson, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Christy Mathewson, Satchel Paige, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and Cy Young.

Prepare to take on one of the toughest questions in baseball: Who is the greatest pitcher of all time? Pitchers can influence games more than any other player on the field. Read about the stats and championship moments of baseball's greatest pitchers. Then use what you learned to create your own top-10 list! Go deep with stats and action-packed text to discover the best pro pitchers of the past and present in a fun, top-ten format. Study the evidence for yourself, and research your own G.O.A.T. list. Then have fun convincing your fellow baseball fans that your list is the best!

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From The New York Times baseball columnist, an enchanting, enthralling history of the national pastime as told through the craft of pitching, based on years of archival research and interviews with more than three hundred people from Hall of Famers to the stars of today. The baseball is an amazing plaything. We can grip it and hold it so many different ways, and even the slightest calibration can turn an ordinary pitch into a weapon to thwart the greatest hitters in the world. Each pitch has its own history, evolving through the decades as the masters pass it down to the next generation. From the earliest days of the game, when Candy Cummings dreamed up the curveball while flinging clamshells on a Brooklyn beach, pitchers have never stopped innovating. In K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, Tyler Kepner traces the colorful stories and fascinating folklore behind the ten major pitches. Each chapter highlights a different pitch, from the blazing fastball to the fluttering knuckleball to the slippery spitball. Infusing every page with infectious passion for the game, Kepner brings readers inside the minds of combatants sixty feet, six inches apart. Filled with priceless insights from many of the best pitchers in baseball history--from Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, and Nolan Ryan to Greg Maddux, Mariano Rivera, and Clayton Kershaw--K will be the definitive book on pitching and join such works as The Glory of Their Times and Moneyball as a classic of the genre.

Relates the stories of five outstanding baseball pitchers, from Walter Johnson to Nolan Ryan.