Birthday greetings

January 31 marks the birthdays of no less than three Hall of Famers: Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, and Nolan Ryan.

There are enough books on and by Robinson to fill several shelves, including adult and, in particular, juvenile titles. Robinson’s story of courage and leadership transcended sports and stretched into the areas or sociology, race relations, politics, and beyond.

Although Banks is a staple of books about the integration of baseball, the Negro Leagues, and his only major league team, the Chicago Cubs, aside from a couple of kids’ biographies, there is, shockingly, no book that tells his story.

Ryan, on the other hand, is the subject of several volumes, including:

Nolan Ryan: Texas Fastball to Cooperstown, by Ken Anderson
Nolan Ryan: From Alvin to Cooperstown, by The Sporting News
Nolan Ryan: The Road to Cooperstown, by Ryan and Mickey Hershkowitz (See a pattern here?)
Nolan Ryan’s Pitcher’s Bible, by Ryan, et al
Miracle Man: Nolan Ryan, by Ryan and Jerry Jenkins
Nolan Ryan: The Authorized Pictorial Biography, by Ryan and Jennifer Briggs
Covering Home: The Inside Story of Nolan Ryan’s Legendary Career, by Ruth Ryan and Mickey Hershkowitz
The Meaning of Nolan Ryan, by Nick Trujillo

Ryan’s exploits can also be found in just about any book on no-hitters or power pitchers/strikeout kings.

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And now for something completely different: Hank Aguirre (1931-1994) was also born this day and has a book about his life as well. Hank Aguirre: The Tall Mexican was published by Arte Publico Press in 1998. The book was ostensibly written for younger readers. From the Web site:

…Aguirre… pitched for the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs in a vibrant major-league career that ran from 1955 to 1971. When he began playing as a youngster in California, Hank had to divide his time between baseball, school, and work as a tortilla-maker in his father’s store. He would become an All-Star pitcher with the best ERA in the American League, and cap his athletic career as manager of the Tucson Toros, a farm club for the Oakland Athletics.

Upon retiring from the game, he founded Mexican Industries, an auto-accessories company that today is a multimillion-dollar, family-run business employing well over a thousand people and bringing renewed hope to inner-city Detroit. When afflicted with cancer in his sixties, Hank Aguirre fought back, coordinating and endowing programs to educate others in cancer awareness and prevention. The National Council of La Raza recognized Aguirre’s accomplishments in sports and society with its 1993 Roberto Clemente Award for Excellence.

This inspirational biography for young adults includes numerous photos, a chronology of Aguirre’s career, and an appendix of his baseball stats. It portrays a heroic figure whose deeds live on today and who remains a remarkable example for others. In Aguirre’s own words, “¡El Espiritu Vive! The Spirit Lives!”