2011 Update on Steve's Book 1921
Steve’s book on the 1921 season, coauthored by Lyle Spatz, 1921, The Yankees, the Giants, and the Battle for Baseball Supremacy in New York, has been very well-received and went into a third printing in late May, just a few weeks after it first appeared. Steve capped off a busy series of appearances in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Vermont, and New York with hosting the summer weekly Authors Series at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with Lyle.
1921 was recently reviewed by James Bailey of Baseball America.
Mike Lynch, founder of seamheads.com, reviewed 1921 in the summer of 2010. Steve and Lyle also took part on seamhead.com’s podcast on August 30, hosted by Mike and Graham Womack of baseballpastandpresent.com.
1921 is available in both hardback and e-book form.
Steve’s article on Tris Speaker, legendary center fielder of the Boston Red Sox and player-manager of the Cleveland Indians, was recently published in the Summer 2010 issue of SABR’s (Society for American Baseball Research) Baseball Research Journal.
"Manager Speaker" looks Tris Speaker’s leadership skills in managing the 1920 Indians to victory in the World Series, in the wake of the tragic death of their beloved shortstop, Ray Chapman, just a few weeks earlier (the only major-league player to die on the ball field, hit by a pitch that fractured his skull). Speaker also led his Indians to a dramatic battle with the Yankees for the 1921 pennant, overcoming numerous injuries to key players. Steve’s article explores Speaker’s ability to select and motivate his men, as well as his use of platooning, long before the word even existed in baseball parlance.
As with all SABR publications (and those of the journal, NINE, as well), individual copies of the Baseball Research Journal can be ordered from the University of Nebraska Press at (800) 848-6224. The Summer 2010 issue is Volume 39, Number 1.