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In Peter Schilling's wonderful novel, a team
that "almost was" becomes real, and
the extraordinary baseball season of 1944 comes
vividly to life.
Bill Veeck, the maverick promoter, returned from
Guadalcanal with a leg missing and $500 to his
name, has hustled his way into buying the Philadelphia
Athletics. Hungry for a pennant, young Veeck jettisons
the team's white players and secretly recruits
the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues, fielding
a club that will go down in baseball annals as
one of the greatest to play the game.
Here are the behind-the-scenes adventures that
bring this dream to reality, and a cast of characters
only history's pen could create: the powerful
columnist Walter Winchell, who saves the club
by whispering in President Roosevelt's ear; the
steely commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, hell-bent
on preserving the sport as he knows it; J. Edgar
Hoover, who sees in Veeck's experiment the sowing
of communism in the nation's pastime; the sportswriters
and the people of Philadelphia who come to love
this team; and, of course, the players themselves—the
tragic Josh Gibson, the remarkable but self-centered
Satchel Paige, the Cuban wonder Martín
Dihigo, the veteran stalwarts Cool Papa Bell,
Willie Wells, and Buck Leonard, and the rising
stars Roy Campanella, Monte Irvin, Artie Wilson,
and Dave Barnhill, whose conscience almost ruins
the team.
The End of Baseball is
the most rollicking, free-spirited baseball story
in years, the unvarnished truth of that incredible
season and the men who lived it.
"Veteran sports journalist and debut novelist
Schilling offers a compassionate, enjoyable re-imagining
of the early days of baseball. The year 1944 finds
oddball baseball promoter Bill Veeck returning
from World War II sans one leg but emboldened
by a mission to create the first black Major League
Baseball team. Among the backdrop of patriotic
elation, pre-civil rights racism and Cold War
paranoia, Schilling's novel offers a deeply inspirational
story of faith. A terrific tale."
—Kirkus Reviews
"With this debut, sportswriter Schilling
has written one of the best baseball novels since
Howard Frank Mosher's Waiting for Teddy Williams...
This exciting, fast-paced story is a fine commentary
on baseball lore, race relations, and American
sentiment during World War II, and it will have
the reader hanging on every pitch, wondering how
Veeck and his players will overcome racial discrimination
to prove they can play in the major leagues."
—Publisher's Weekly
"The End of Baseball is a blast.
Like a Satchel Paige flutter ball, it amuses and
beguiles with every sharp turn. It's perfect for
baseball lovers, but it will entertain anyone
who loves a good story. Filled with wonderful
characters and lively writing, Schilling's book
is the best baseball novel I've read in years."
—Jonathan Eig, New
York Times best-selling author of Opening
Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou
Gehrig
"The End of Baseball is so engaging
and convincing that it accomplishes something
truly special: it makes you wish desperately it
were true.”
—Brad Zellar, The Rake
Magazine and author of Suburban World:
The Norling Photographs
"The End of Baseball reminded me
of the books on the shelf at my Grandfather's
house. Schilling captures the period beautifully.
A wonderful story."
—Jim Bouton, author of
Ball Four and Foul Ball: My Life
and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark
"The End of Baseball captures the
mood and feel of a time like no other baseball
novel I have ever read. You are hooked quickly
and for the duration. It reminds me of the thrill
I got when I first read E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime."
—Paul Dickson, author of
The Bonus Army, An American Epic and The Hidden
Language of Baseball
"I always wished I could have spent time
in the Negro Leagues, and I always wanted to hang
out with Bill Veeck. In Peter Schilling's work
of inventive history, The End of Baseball,
I was allowed to do both, and I thank him for
that. If you ever wondered what might have happened
if Veeck had succeeded in his attempt to buy the
A's and fill the roster with Negro League stars,
here's a chance to find out. Enjoy the journey.
"
—Peter Golenbock, author
of 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel and Bums:
An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Dynasty:
the New York Yankees, 1949-1964
"Peter Schilling takes one of the great ‘what-might-have-been’
episodes in baseball history and brings it to
life. This is best baseball novel I’ve read
about this era since Mark Winegartner’s
Veracruz Blues. A fine achievement."
—Brad Snyder, award-winning
author of A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s
Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports
"A fascinating work, The End of Baseball
is a powerful What-If novel”
—Arnold Hano, bestselling
author of A Day in the Bleachers (my
favorite baseball book)
The End of Baseball is
published by Ivan R. Dee and is available April
18 at Amazon.com,
Barnes
and Noble, Borders,
or at your local, independent
bookstore... which is where I'd prefer you buy
it.
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