Full Description
This is a book about baseball players who performed in the major leagues before the age of 21. For years the dream of many boys has been to enter the world of professional sports. Out of millions of boys who have played baseball, more than 17,000 have appeared in major league contests. Among them were hundreds who made their debut before their 21st birthday. However, most of these appeared in only a few games. Only 284 young men have played at least one season as a regular before or during the season in which they reached the age of 21. They are the subjects of this book.
The text is divided into three parts. Part One deals with the careers of the ten prodigies who had the most productive seasons at the bat. Part Two discusses the ten young pitchers who had the most fruitful seasons on the mound. Part Three provides short sketches of the 172 players with at least five eligible seasons who do not rank among the above 20 prodigies. Data on the 92 players with at least one but fewer than five eligible seasons are given in an appendix.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Abbreviations
PART ONE: TEN BEST SEASONS BY HITTERS
Mel Ott
Pete Browning
Alex Rodriguez
Ty Cobb
Al Kaline
Ted Williams
Frank Robinson
Abner Dalrymple
Vada Pinson
Rogers Hornsby
Star of the Future: Mike Trout
PART TWO: TEN BEST SEASONS BY PITCHERS
Matt Kilroy
Dwight Gooden
Noodles Hahn
Bob Feller
Bret Saberhagen
Icebox Chamberlain
Christy Mathewson
CC Sabathia
Don Gullett
Willis Hudlin
PART THREE: OTHER PRODIGIES WITH AT LEAST FIVE ELIGIBLE SEASONS (ALPHABETICAL) 119Table of Contents
Hank Aaron
Roberto Alomar
Steve Avery
Bob Bailey
Buddy Bell
Adrian Beltre
Johnny Bench
Chief Bender
Lou Bierbauer
Bert Blyleven
Tommy Bond
Jeremy Bonderman
George Brett
Britt Burns
Oyster Burns
Bullet Joe Bush
Miguel Cabrera
Fred Carroll
Kid Carsey
Gary Carter
John Cassidy
Phil Cavarretta
Cesar Cedeno
Orlando Cepeda
Dean Chance
Roberto Clemente
Joe Coleman
Eddie Collins
Tony Conigliaro
Larry Corcoran
Del Crandall
Doc Crandall
Sam Crawford
Bill Crowley
George Davis
Willie Davis
Charlie Dexter
Larry Dierker
Bobby Doerr
Don Drysdale
Joe Dugan
Fred Dunlap
Red Ehret
Dick Ellsworth
Del Ennis
Ron Fairly
Curt Flood
Jim Fogarty
Terry Forster
Jimmie Foxx
Bob Friend
Charlie Getzien
Jack Glasscock
Zack Greinke
Ken Griffey,
Jose Guillen
Ad Gumbert
Frankie Gustine
Earl Hamilton
Granny Hamner
Mel Harder
Pink Hawley
Long John "Egyptian" Healy
Cliff Heathcote
Felix Hernandez
Dick Hoblitzell
Billy Hoeft
Ken Holtzman
Art Houtteman
Catfish Hunter
Travis Jackson
Walter Johnson
Andruw Jones
Dalton Jones
King Kelly
Bob Kennedy
Silver King
Clay Kirby
Malachi Kittridge
Ed Kranepool
Vern
Dutch Leonard
Buddy Lewis
Freddie Lindstrom
Greg Maddux
Sherry Magee
Les Mann
Rick Manning
Mickey Mantle
Walt Masterson
Eddie Matthews
Carlos
Al Mays
Willie Mays
Bill Mazeroski
Barry McCormick
Willie McGill
John McGraw
Stuffy McInnis
Dave McNally
Lee Meadows
Win Mercer
Cass Michaels
Doggie Miller
Willie Mitchell
Bob Moose
Lloyd Moseby
Van Lingle Mungo
Billy Nash
Hal Newhouser
Kid Nichols
Gary Nolan
Jack O'Connor
Mickey O'Neil
Jose Oquendo
Jim Palmer
Milt Pappas
Herb Pennock
Boog Powell
Joe Quinn
Pedro Ramos
Edgar Renteria
Jerry Reuss
Jose Rijo
Brooks Robinson
Ivan Rodriguez
Red Ruffing
Amos Rusie
Babe Ruth
Ray Sadecki
Vick Saier
Ray Schalk
Pete Schneider
Jim Shaw
Jimmy Sheckard
Ruben Sierra
Curt Simmons
Ted Simmons
Sibby Sisti
Jim Slaton
Frank Snyder
Chris Speier
Rusty Staub
Ed Stein
Kurt Stillwell
Chuck Stobbs
Milt Stock
Scott Stratton
Ron Swoboda
Jack Taylor
Adonis Terry
Mike Tiernan
Joe Torre
Alan Trammell
Cecil Travis
George Uhle
Justin Upton
Fernando Valenzuela
Arky Vaughan
Monte Ward
Claudell Washington
Mickey Welch
Gus Weyhing
Lou Whitaker
Ned Williamson
Whitey Witt
Chicken Wolf
Joe Wood
Kerry Wood
Butch Wynegar
Eddie Yost
Robin Yount
Appendix: Major League Prodigies with One to Four Eligible Seasons
Notes
Bibliography
Index
