Welcome to the Hall, Cal and Tony

Now that Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn have been elected to the Hall of Fame, expect a few new titles to hit the bookshelves in the very near future.

Actually, both fan favorites are already the subject of multiple titles.

When Ripken was approaching Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played, writers worked overtime to mark the event, either in newspaper columns or elsewhere. Books by or about him include Cal Ripken Jr.: My Story (Dial, 1999); Baseball’s Iron Man: Cal Ripken Jr.: A Tribute (Sports Publishing, 2007); Nine Innings with Cal Ripken Jr. (Beckett Publications, 1998); Ironman: The Cal Ripken Jr. Story by Harvey Rosenfeld (St. Martin’s Press, 1995). Ripken has also had a hand in several instructionals, particularly for younger players.

Gwynn never received the ink that Ripken did, despite the fact that he was arguably the better hitter. Still, a couple of books have his name on it, including Tony Gwynn , Mr. Padre, by Barry Bloom (Sports Publishing, 1999) and Tony, by Gwynn and Jim Geschke (McGraw-Hill Contemporary, 1986), and a couple of instructionals, including Tony Gwynn’s Total Baseball Player (with Jim Rosenthal, St. Martin’s Griffin, 1992) and The Art of Hitting (with Roger Vaughan, GT Publishing Corporation, 1998)

Several of those on this years ballot who did not get the nod have already had their stories captured on the page. Herewith a selected and annotated bibliography. The astute reader will not from the release date that many publishers took advantage of a player’s notoriety after a particularly good season or specific event. For example, Jose Canseco‘s Juiced came out immediately prior to his appearance before the Senate Committee hearings on steroids and baseball. Similarly, though less dramatic, Eric Davis‘ Born to Play hit the bookstores after a successful comeback following his battle with colon cancer.

After he broke Roger Maris’ single season record for homers, Mark McGwire was the subject of numerous exciting and colorful books, including Celebrating 70: Mark McGwire’s Historic Season, by Bernie Miklasz (McGraw-Hill Contemporary 1998) and Mark McGwire: Home Run Hero, by Rob Rains (St. Martin’s Press 1999).

Canseco’s tell-all tome, Juiced : Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Basebal l Got Big (Regan Books, 2005), opened the whole can of worms that no doubt contributed to McGwire’s exlcusion this year, and perhaps for the foreseeable future. Canseco makes some pretty outrageous claims and did not endear himself to ex-teammates or fans (or Bud Selig or any of the congressmen, who certainly didn’t ask for that kind of headache). Albert Belle was another whose surly relationship with the writers couldn;t have helped his cause any. Not that he had the numbers anyway, although he was the most feared batter in the game for a time. He tries to explain himself in Don’t Call Me Joey: The Wit and Wisdom of Albert “Joey” Belle (ECW, 1998).

Andre Dawson: Andre Dawson, by Dawson and Tom Bird (Zondervan, 1995). “The Hawk” was a solid leader and gained notoriety for winning the NL MVP award while playing for a last-place Cubs team.

Goose Gossage: The Goose Is Loose, by Gossage and Russ Pate (Ballantine Books, 2000). The perpetual scowl tried to convince readers that he wasn’t such a meany after all.

Orel Hershiser: Out of the Blue: Orel Hershiser by Hershiser and Jerry B. Jenkins (Wolgemuth & Hyatt Pub, 1989). This one was released after his standout 1988 season in whiuch he set the new standard of 59 consecutive scoreless innings, a 23-8 record, and MVP awards for the NL Championship Series as well as the World Series. Both Out of the Blue and Between the Lines: Nine Things Baseball Taught Me About Life, written with Robert Wolgemuth (Faithwords 2005) stress his fervent Christian faith.

Tommy John enjoyed a successful career following pioneering surgery by Dr. Frank Jobe. John won 166 games after the procedure that bears his name, to finish with 288 victories in 26 years. He found time to pen three books: The Tommy John Story (F.H. Revell Company, 1978); The Sally and Tommy John Story: Our Life in Baseball (Macmillan, 1983); and TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball, written with Dan Valenti (Bantam, 1991).

Don Mattingly: The best we can do is a instructional that’s due out this year: Don Mattingly’s Hitting Is Simple: The ABC’s of Batting .300, with Jim Rosenthal, Don Mattingly, Rod Carew, and Joe Torre (St. Martin’s Press)

Dale Murphy: Murph by Murphy, (Bookcraft 1978). Murphy was another Christian athlete and gentleman, playing primarily for the Atlanta Braves.

Paul O’Neill: Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir by O’Neill and Burton Rocks (Harper, 2004), a surprisingly thoughtful effort by a player who was charitably known as a “red ****.”