Literary birthday greetings: Slammin’ Sammy and Sub

November 12, 2010

Two notorious players — one from the old days and one more contemporary — share a birthday today.

Carl Mays, the submarining hurler for the Red Sox, Yankees, Reds, and Giants in a 15-year career, was born in 1891. Mays was the only pitcher in Major league history to kill a batter with a thrown ball, as chronicled in Mike Sowell’s gripping 1989 book, The Pitch That Killed. He was also the major storyline in the 2006 novel, The Curse of Carl Mays.

More recently, Sammy Sosa was born this date in 1968.

When he and Mark McGwire were bringing the national pastime back from the dead in the aftermath of the 1994 strike, you couldn’t say enough good things about him. Many kids’ books — in Spanish as well as English — were published praising his name, his smile, his fellowship. So much for that. On the other hand, you haven’t seen as much literary backlash against him as there’s been for McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens. Wait awhile.

The Cubs’ slugger put out Sammy Sosa: An Autobiography in 2000, fresh on the heels of his new-found national popularity. Other titles include George Castle’s Sammy Sosa: Clearing the Vines (1998) and Home Run: Sammy Sosa and The Year the Records Fell, by the Associated Press; interestingly, the AP also printed an edition with McGwire on the cover.

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Tagged as: Carl Mays, Sammy Sosa

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