Hoyt Wilhelm's intriguing baseball career lasted two decades. A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, the eight-time All-Star from Huntersville, North Carolina, was a standout for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves, though he did not reach the majors until he was nearly 30. He pitched a no-hitter as a starter, won as many as 15 games a season, was the first reliever to win more than 100 games and save more than 200, and broke Cy Young's record for most games on the mound. Along the way, he relied almost entirely on his baffling skill with a rare weapon of choice--the knuckleball. This first full-length biography covers the life and career of the first relief pitcher in the Hall of Fame.

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.

Even the most ardent baseball fan will be amazed at the quirks, quips, and comments in Baseball Gold. Consisting entirely of bits and pieces of baseball’s offbeat history, this volume covers teams and a myriad of players, owners, managers, and broadcasters—from their exploits on the field to those behind clubhouse doors. It can even be picked up in the middle and read backward—one nugget at a time.

"New essays, statistical profiles, and hidden "nuggets" from the man who revolutionized baseball analysis"--Cover

The knuckleball—so difficult to hit but also difficult to control and catch—has been a part of major league baseball since the early 1900s and continues to be used to this day. This remarkable and unusual pitch is the instrument of a special breed of pitcher, a determined athlete possessing tremendous concentration, self confidence, and a willingness to weather all kinds of adversity. In The Knuckleball Club: The Extraordinary Men Who Mastered Baseball's Most Difficult Pitch, Richard A. Johnson provides an informal history of the wildest, weirdest, most mesmerizing pitch of all time. Beginning with an examination of the invention of the knuckleball, Johnson then briefly touches upon the science and psychology of the pitch before profiling the game’s great knuckleballers. Rich in anecdotes and interviews, this book shares the unique stories of Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, Jim Bouton, Tom Candiotti, Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, and many others. Also featured are the stories of the best knuckleball catchers, from Bob Uecker and Doug Mirabelli to Rick Ferrell and Paul Richards. While knuckleballers today are an anomaly, decades ago a surprisingly large number of major league pitchers used the knuckler. The Knuckleball Club is the first book to provide a comprehensive survey of the pitch and the players who used it, offering a deep understanding of how the knuckleball has fit into the fabric of the game over the past one hundred years. Anyone wanting to learn more about this unusual pitch, from baseball historians and fans to current and former players, will find this book an entertaining and enlightening read.

Major leagues' most prominent relief pitchers, their role as closer, and how they cope with stress on the mound.