Almost Perfect
The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching's Holy Grail
Published on 15. March 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
280 pages
978-1-4930-3953-1 (ISBN)
Description
The rich, poignant tales of major league baseball's most hard-luck fraternity-the pitchers of its Almost-Perfect Games
From 1908 to 2015, there have been thirteen pitchers who have begun Major League Baseball games by retiring the first twenty-six opposing batters, but then, one out from completing a perfect game, somehow faltering (or having perfection stolen from them). Three other pitchers did successfully retire twenty-seven batters in a row, but are still not credited with perfect games. While stories of pitching the perfect game have been told and retold, Almost Perfect looks at how baseball, at its core, is about heartbreak, and these sixteen men are closer to what baseball really is, and why we remain invested in the sport. Author Joe Cox visits this notion through a century of baseball and through these sixteen pitchers-recounting their games in thrilling fashion, telling the personal stories of the fascinating (and very human) baseball figures involved, and exploring the historical American and baseball backdrops of each flawed gem.
From George "Hooks" Wiltse's nearly perfect game in 1908 to "Hard Luck" Harvey Haddix's 12-inning, 36-consecutive-outs performance on May 26, 1959 (the most astounding single-game pitching performance in baseball history) to Max Scherzer's near miss in 2015, Joe Cox's book captures the action, the humanity, and the history of the national pastime's greatest "almosts."
From 1908 to 2015, there have been thirteen pitchers who have begun Major League Baseball games by retiring the first twenty-six opposing batters, but then, one out from completing a perfect game, somehow faltering (or having perfection stolen from them). Three other pitchers did successfully retire twenty-seven batters in a row, but are still not credited with perfect games. While stories of pitching the perfect game have been told and retold, Almost Perfect looks at how baseball, at its core, is about heartbreak, and these sixteen men are closer to what baseball really is, and why we remain invested in the sport. Author Joe Cox visits this notion through a century of baseball and through these sixteen pitchers-recounting their games in thrilling fashion, telling the personal stories of the fascinating (and very human) baseball figures involved, and exploring the historical American and baseball backdrops of each flawed gem.
From George "Hooks" Wiltse's nearly perfect game in 1908 to "Hard Luck" Harvey Haddix's 12-inning, 36-consecutive-outs performance on May 26, 1959 (the most astounding single-game pitching performance in baseball history) to Max Scherzer's near miss in 2015, Joe Cox's book captures the action, the humanity, and the history of the national pastime's greatest "almosts."
Reviews / Votes
As that baseball fanatic Tolstoy almost wrote, 'All perfect games resemble one another; each imperfect game is imperfect in its own way.' Cox analyzes the 16 games between 1908 and 2015 in which pitchers retired at least the first 26 batters they faced, only to see perfection elude them. * The New York Times * Joe Cox deftly conjures up the past, allowing us to fully consider a handful of pitchers who deserved a better fate. -- Tim Wendel, author of Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball-and America-Forever Almost Perfect might be narrowly viewed as an examination of the fine line between immortality and forgetability, but credit Joe Cox for leveraging the topic to expose an array of baseball history, utilizing near-misses as a platform from which to launch in-depth looks at the people and eras that have made baseball what it is today. It's a terrific look back at some engaging players and moments we might otherwise have overlooked. -- Jason Turbow, author of The Baseball Codes and Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley's Swingin' A's Almost Perfect is an entertaining and illuminating book that offers up sixteen, er, perfect examples of why falling short of perfection is often far more interesting than actually attaining it. -- Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s [M]eticulously researched . . . Cox holds up their brush with perfection as a mirror for the fallible human condition. . . . Cox adds considerable pre- and postgame context to these almost-perfectos to give his subjects and the national pastime depth. . . . The ambitious effort will appeal to hard-core fans." * Publishers Weekly * . . . very well researched baseball fun. * Booklist *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Guilford
United States
Publishing group
Rowman & Littlefield
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 221 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
386 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4930-3953-1 (9781493039531)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2017
The Lyons Press
€15.81
Available for download
Persons
Joe Cox is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and is the co-author of multiple sports books, including Fightin' Words: Kentucky vs. Louisville and Voice of the Wildcats: Claude Sullivan and the Rise of Modern Sportscasting. He lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky.