Although football may first spring to mind when talking about sports in Alabama, the state has certainly made its mark with the national pastime. Thirteen players with Alabama roots are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, including all-time greats like Hank Aaron, Ozzie Smith and Satchel Paige. Bob Veale of Birmingham led the National League in strikeouts in 1964. Superstars and former players like Bo Jackson and Britt Burns give back to their home state by organizing charities and coaching Alabama's next generation of players. Author and baseball historian Doug Wedge explores stories from this rich history.

Baseball in Alabama: Tales of Hardball in the Heart of Dixie (Sports)

Arts & Photography

Wedge, Doug

Photography & Video

The History Press

Review\nWedge, the author of two previous baseball history books, interviewed ten pitchers who had won the Cy Young Award, an annual award to Major League Baseball's best pitchers in both the National League and the American League, spanning 50 years: Jim Lonborg, Mike McCormick, Randy Jones, Ron Guidry, LaMarr Hoyt, Dennis Eckersley, Jack McDowell, Barry Zito, R. A. Dickey, and Corey Kubler. All pitchers interviewed are retired, with the exception of two-time American League winner Kubler. Common threads include that pitchers' successes result from years of work perfecting their craft, and that mentorship by coaches, managers, and fellow pitchers plays an important role. Interviews also touched on the close collaboration and teamwork between pitcher and catcher, the revelation of a particularly effective pitch and/or approach to pitching the subject developed and perfected, the superior defense on the field during a given year, and team chemistry, which may not necessarily be duplicated from year to year. The author complements the interviews with discussion of the finer points of technique in pitching. Readers will conclude that there is no sure-fire path to success in pitching. The book will be a welcome addition to all collections. Recommended. All readers. ― Choice Reviews\nIn Doug Wedge’s Pinnacle on the Mound, we get a closer look at some of the men who won baseball’s preeminent pitching award. There are conversations with 10 Cy Young winners whose historic seasons span over half-a-century, devoted to shining a light on the particularities that allowed these hurlers to be, for one season at least, the very best in the game.... Pinnacle on the Mound is a quick, breezy read—the kind of book that can and will be eagerly consumed by fans of baseball history. Wedge has done good work in putting together a varied collection of arms, featuring those who would go on to immortality, those who would go on to crash and burn, and those who would … go on. Informative, entertaining and fun — this is a book that will have you yearning for the pop of the mitt and the crack of the bat. It’s a book by a baseball lover for baseball lovers—and Doug Wedge has his fastball working. ― The Maine Edge\nAt a time when our beloved baseball is bejibbered by wearying sabermetrics, garish infield shifts, noxious pitch counts, leveraging, players' household squabbles, and the mysterious inability to lay down a simple bunt, Mr. Wedge's extremely welcome book, zero-ing in on these Cy Young Award winners of the not-so-distant past, feels to be just what I'm hungriest for as a life-long baseball fan -- the real skinny, the low-down about the game itself. 
-- Richard Ford\nPinnacle on the Mound gives the reader a person-to-person account of what it takes to win baseball’s most coveted pitching honor — the Cy Young Award. Ten men, ten different stories, make this book a must-read for any fan who wants the inside scoop. 
-- Jerry Reuss, former major league player and author of Bring in the Right-Hander!\nThere are enough baseball books in the world to fill Yankee Stadium and probably Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mud Hens, too. But you need to make room for one more, thanks to Doug Wedge, whose passion for the game, mercifully, has not been diminished by the current obsession with spin rates, launch angles, and all things analytic. In Pinnacle on the Mound, Wedge offers readers ten profiles of Cy Young winners, every one of them rich with insight, honesty, and pitching wisdom. If you love baseball and have ever wanted to crawl into the psyche of an elite pitcher, to understand their craft, their doubts, and their unending pursuit of outs, Pinnacle on the Mound is a must read. 
-- Wayne Coffey, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Closer, with Mariano Rivera, and Wherever I Wind Up, with R.A, Dickey\nI have believed and lived my life in serendipity. Doug Wedge’s book Pinnacle on the Mound is yet another example. I couldn't get past chapters one a

Pinnacle on the Mound: Cy Young Award Winners Talk Baseball

Biographies & Memoirs

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Although football may first spring to mind when talking about sports in Alabama, the state has certainly made its mark with the national pastime. Thirteen players with Alabama roots are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, including all-time greats like Hank Aaron, Ozzie Smith and Satchel Paige. Bob Veale of Birmingham led the National League in strikeouts in 1964. Superstars and former players like Bo Jackson and Britt Burns give back to their home state by organizing charities and coaching Alabama's next generation of players. Author and baseball historian Doug Wedge explores stories from this rich history.

Baseball in Alabama: Tales of Hardball in the Heart of Dixie

History Press Library Editions

During fifteen seasons in the major leagues, Charlie O’Brien was battery-mate to thirteen pitchers who won the Cy Young Award, presented each year by the Baseball Writers Association of America. To put that accomplishment in perspective, Hall of Fame catchers Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra each worked with only one Cy Young winner during their careers. Legendary hurlers caught by O’Brien include such greats as Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, and Steve Bedrosian. O’Brien’s The Cy Young Catcher, written with Doug Wedge, includes up-close views of the thirteen Cy Young Award–winning pitchers at their best . . . and occasionally at their worst. O’Brien shares an inside perspective on how catchers talk to umpires, what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a 90-mph fastball, and how it feels to be in a clutch situation when the World Series is on the line. This authentic, down-to-earth memoir will not only delight baseball fans of all stripes, it will also provide keen insights into what separates the game’s greatest competitors from the also-rans.

The Cy Young Catcher (Swaim-Paup-Foran Spirit of Sport Series, sponsored by James C. ’74 & Debra Parchman Swaim, Nancy & T. Edgar Paup ’74, & Joseph Wm. & Nancy Foran)

O'Brien, Charlie

Texas A&M University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wedge, Doug. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wedge, Doug

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wedge, Doug. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Baseball in Alabama: Tales of Hardball in the Heart of Dixie (Sports)

Pinnacle on the Mound: Cy Young Award Winners Talk Baseball

Baseball in Alabama: Tales of Hardball in the Heart of Dixie

The Cy Young Catcher (Swaim-Paup-Foran Spirit of Sport Series, sponsored by James C. ’74 & Debra Parchman Swaim, Nancy & T. Edgar Paup ’74, & Joseph Wm. & Nancy Foran)