Lefty O’Doul,
The Legend that Baseball Nearly Forgot
(Back cover text)
The Baseball Hall of Fame honors those who—to the highest degree—have been “good for baseball.” Few men have ever been better for the game than Francis Joseph “Lefty” O’Doul. He stood out as a player, coach, manager, and goodwill ambassador. Yet despite his sterling performances—both on and off the field—O’Doul has been left off the official roster of baseball greats. Many fans and experts are convinced he deserves his niche in the Hall of Fame. After you read this book, we think you’ll agree.
Consider some highlights from the career of Lefty O’Doul:
• His 254 hits in a single season is the second highest ever.
• He batted .398 in 1929, the highest average of any National League outfielder in the 20th Century.
• Only Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Joe Jackson have better lifetime batting averages.
• He’s the only major league player ever to hit more than 30 home runs and strike out fewer than 20 times in the same season.
One of baseball’s most popular and colorful personalities, O’Doul was an outstanding player and a highly respected coach and manager. Equally noteworthy, he’s considered the “Father of Baseball” in Japan. General Douglas MacArthur hailed O’Doul’s role in that country’s post-war recovery as “the greatest piece of diplomacy ever.”
Lefty O’Doul: The Legend That Baseball Nearly Forgot tells of O’Doul’s brilliant career as a player during baseball’s Golden Age. Beyond that, it tells how he continued to make extraordinary contributions to the game long after his playing days were over. It’s the story of a man with a fiery love for the game of baseball—and a fiery love for life itself—a “character” in the best sense of the word.
As it says on his tombstone:
“The man in the green suit…he was here at a good time and he had a good time while he was here.”