Splendor on the Diamond: Interviews with 35 Stars of Baseball's Past [Hardcover]

Rich Westcott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

Baseball author and historian Rich Westcott collects intimate interviews and personal profiles of 35 legends of the game. Each player from one of baseball's greatest and most momentous eras--the decades following World War II--is a recognizable and unforgettable member of that cast of characters who gave a special flavor to a distinctively American age.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Readers who know their baseball oral history are consistently amazed at the detail with which old ballplayers can recall their careers. It's a testament to the passion with which the old-timers played the game, and that passion is on vivid display in this collection of 35 interviews with players who experienced most of their glory days in the years between 1945 and 1970. Veteran baseball writer Westcott includes Hall-of-Famers such as Warren Spahn, Billy Williams, and Eddie Mathews as well as such noteworthy figures as Jim Brosnan, the pitcher turned best-selling author, and Chico Carrasquel, who was the first of a stream of stellar Latin American shortstops to play in the major leagues. Among the less well known but equally fascinating subjects are Ned Garver, who starred for the hapless St. Louis Browns in the early fifties, and Ralph Branca, the pitcher who threw the single most famous pitch in baseball history and has spent the rest of his life explaining it. Baseball fans of any age will enjoy this compilation, but it may hold a special appeal to fans over 40. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Rich Westcott is the author of nine books on baseball. He has been a newspaper and magazine editor for nearly 40 years and was the founder, publisher, and editor of Phillies Report, the nation's oldest continuous baseball team newspaper.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 332 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813017866
• ISBN-13: 978-0813017860
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,702,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Baseball Stars of the 1950's and 1960's, March 9, 2002

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Splendor on the Diamond: Interviews with 35 Stars of Baseball's Past (Hardcover)

I bought this book because it is about the heroes of my youth. I found the book to be an easy read with a quick rehash of their careers. I didn't find any real depth to any of the summaries of the players interviewed. I believe the book to be more suitable for a pre-teen or teen-aged reader who would be interested in an introduction to the players who made up baseball's golden age.