George Edward "Rube" Waddell was one of the zaniest characters ever to play baseball. The legendary Connie Mack, who saw quite a few cards during his nearly seven decade stint in the majors, once observed that no other screwball he ever saw could hold a candle to Rube. Mack also said that Rube's curveball was the best he'd ever seen. Indeed, Waddell was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. Rube won 191 games in 13 seasons, had four straight 20-win seasons for Mack and the Philadelphia A's, and claimed six consecutive strikeout titles. In 1904 he struck out 349 batters, a record that held for six decades. This biography traces his early life in western Pennsylvania, the fits and starts of his first years in professional baseball, his big years with the A's, and his subsequent fade into obscurity and his early death in a sanatorium on April Fool's Day, 1914.

The creators of the podcast The Dollop present illustrated profiles of the weird, outrageous, NSFW, and downright absurd tales from American history that you weren't taught in school. The United States of Absurdity presents short, informative, and hilarious stories of the most outlandish (but true) people, events, and more from United States history. Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds cover the weird stories you didn't learn in history class, such as 10-Cent Beer Night, the Jackson Cheese, and the Kentucky Meat Shower, accompanied by full-page illustrations that bring each historical "milestone" to life in full-color.

The most famous player prior to Babe Ruth, Rube Waddell set pitching records that stood for generations. In fact, Waddell died before Ruth swatted his first homer. As baseballs attention turned to hitters, it wasnt until Bob Fellers run at Rubes single-season strikeout record that people looked back at the free-spirited lefthander who turned baseball on its ear. Unfortunately, thirty-two years passed between Rubes death and Fellers run; the memories of sportswriters and former managers like Connie Mack had distorted with time. So, stories told about Rubestories still told todaytook shape in predictable forms, but failed to get the details right. In Just a Big Kid: The Life and Times of Rube Waddell, Paul Proia looks at what people wrote when Rube was alive and double checks the memories of the players, managers and writers who watched him pitch, and loved to tell stories about the greatest personality of his generation.

“Easily the best baseball book ever produced by anyone.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “This was the best baseball book published in 1966, it is the best baseball book of its kind now, and, if it is reissued in 10 years, it will be the best baseball book.” — People From Lawrence Ritter, co-author of The Image of Their Greatness and The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, comes one of the bestselling, most acclaimed sports books of all time. Baseball was different in earlier days—tougher, more raw, more intimate—when giants like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb ran the bases. In the monumental classic The Glory of Their Times, the golden era of our national pastime comes alive through the vibrant words of those who played and lived the game. It is a book every baseball fan should read!

Waddell recounts the details of a marijuana smuggling operation that went awry, leaving four innocent people dead. The man who was convicted of the murders was 150 miles away from the crime. What really happened?

When in 1911 Phillies pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander set the National League record for wins by a rookie (28), it was a sign of things to come. Alexander went on to win 373 games over his 20-year career, the third highest total in major league history, and he would lead the league in ERA four times, shutouts seven times, complete games six times, and wins six times. But he also became a deeply troubled man. After the Shell-Shocked pitcher returned from World War I, he would battle alcoholism, epilepsy, and personal demons that damaged his reputation and proved disastrous for his life outside of baseball. This biography sheds new light on the pitcher and the man, focusing on Alexander's personal life, especially his complex relationship with his wife, Aimee, as well as their marriages and divorces. His Hall of Fame career, wartime service, and long decline are also documented.

Think you know how the game of baseball began? Think again. Forget Abner Doubleday and Cooperstown. Did baseball even have a father--or did it just evolve from other bat-and-ball games? John Thorn, baseball's preeminent historian, examines the creation story of the game and finds it all to be a gigantic lie. From its earliest days baseball was a vehicle for gambling, a proxy form of class warfare. Thorn traces the rise of the New York version of the game over other variations popular in Massachusetts and Philadelphia. He shows how the sport's increasing popularity in the early decades of the nineteenth century mirrored the migration of young men from farms and small towns to cities, especially New York. Full of heroes, scoundrels, and dupes, this book tells the story of nineteenth-century America, a land of opportunity and limitation, of glory and greed--all present in the wondrous alloy that is our nation and its pastime.--From publisher description.