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"Every serious baseball fan can attest to the perennial excellence of stars like Babe Ruth and Ken Griffey, Jr. But how many can recall the exploits of Fred Dunlap, George Stone, Bobby Shantz, or Mark Fidrych? Each of these players performed like a superstar for a single season, but none of them came close to replicating that success in subsequent years. Some achieved early success and flamed out, while others overcame early setbacks to achieve brief stardom late in their careers. Some were one-year wonders, and others sustained solid careers after setting an early standard that they would never again reach. This book contains the bittersweet stories of 30 such players who tantalized their fans with visions of greatness, but ultimately fell short."--
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface: The Allure of Shooting Stars
¿1.¿Introduction
¿2.¿The King of Second Base: Frederick C. Dunlap (1884)
¿3.¿The Other Cy: James Bentley "Cy" Seymour (1905)
¿4.¿The Reluctant Star: George Robert Stone (1906)
¿5.¿California Dutch: Hubert Benjamin "Dutch" Leonard (1914)
¿6.¿Windfall: William Wilcy Moore (1927)
¿7.¿The Left-Handed Satchel Paige: Stewart "Slim" Jones (1934)
¿8.¿The Pride of the Jury Box: Thomas Francis "Tommy" Holmes (1945)
¿9.¿Harry the Cat: Harry David Brecheen (1948)
10.¿The Little Pitcher Who Could: Robert Clayton "Bobby" Shantz (1952)
11.¿The Hebrew Hammer: Albert Leonard "Al" Rosen (1953)
12.¿Diamond Jim: James Edward "Jim" Gentile (1961)
13.¿Stormin' Norman: Norman Dalton "Norm" Cash (1961)
14.¿The World's Most Horrible Hitter: Henry John "Hank" Aguirre (1962)
15.¿Bonus Baby: Richard Clark "Dick" Ellsworth (1963)
16.¿The Mark of Zoilo: Zoilo Casanova Versalles (1965)
17.¿Angleworm: Theodore Wade "Ted" Abernathy (1967)
18.¿Fenway Power: Americo Peter "Rico" Petrocelli (1969)
19.¿Billy Sunday: Billy Cordell Grabarkewitz (1970)
20.¿The Comeback Kid: John Frederick Hiller (1973)
21.¿The Bird Is the Word: Mark Steven "The Bird" Fidrych (1976)
22.¿Imperfect: Darrell Ray Porter (1979)
23.¿Doctor K: Dwight Eugene "Doc" Gooden (1985)
24.¿The Last 150-Inning Reliever: Mark Anthony Eichhorn (1986)
25.¿Skates: Lonnie Smith (1989)
26.¿Journeyman: Richard David "Rick" Wilkins (1993)
27.¿Bad Boy: Esteban Antonio Loaiza (2003)
28.¿Brian's Little Brother: Marcus William Giles (2003)
29.¿The Perfect Pitching Prospect: Mark William Prior (2003)
30.¿The Natural: Joshua Holt (Josh) Hamilton (2010)
31.¿The Next Dave Winfield: Matthew Ryan "Matt" Kemp (2011)
32.¿Wrap-Up
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
David J. Gordon is a cardiovascular epidemiologist and an internationally recognized expert on clinical trials, who recently retired after 42 years with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. He is an author or co-author of 90 peer-reviewed scholarly articles plus invited chapters in 13 medical monographs and textbooks. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
