Shadows of glory : memorable and offbeat World Series stories

Any true baseball fan has heard the famous World Series stories about Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Bill Mazeroski’s Series-ending home run in 1960, and Bill Buckner’s blunder to end Game 6 of the 1986 Series.

Many fans, however, may not be aware of other less well-known but equally engaging stories about the Fall Classic.

Shadows of Glory recounts 18 of these stories. Readers will encounter some unlikely World Series heroes, such as Dusty Rhodes, the reserve outfielder whose clutch pinch-hits helped the New York Giants win the 1954 World Series, and Brian Doyle, the light-hitting utility infielder who was a batting star for the New York Yankees in their 1978 Series triumph.

They will find stories shaped by world events, such as the Spanish flu pandemic and world wars, which significantly affected team rosters and thus the participants and outcomes of the 1918 and 1944 World Series.

Baseball lovers will experience a range of emotions—heartbreak that Bill Bevens, an ordinary pitcher, came within an out of the first World Series no-hitter in 1947 and then lost the no-hitter and game on one pitch; outrage that umpire Don Denkinger received death threats after missing a call in the 1985 World Series; and amusement that Cliff Lee, stuck in a traffic jam on his way to start Game 1 of the 2009 World Series, hopped out of the cab he was in and made his way to the subway. Shadows of Glory will captivate casual and hard-core fans alike.