“The End of Baseball”
Author: Peter Schilling, Jr.
A few weeks ago I was in northern California talking to a close friend of mine who happens to be an Oakland A’s fan. I remember mentioning to him that I had decided to read and review “The End of Baseball.” He gave me a blank look until I explained the book’s premise: a fictional novel about baseball starring Bill Veeck, the Philadelphia Athletics and an all black team set in the early forties. My friend sort of chuckled before asking if Eddie Gaedel was going to be in the story as well. Of course I had no idea who he was talking about and this prompted a Google search.
Learning about Gaedel caused me to do some serious research on Veeck. I have to give major props to Peter Schilling Jr., the book’s author. Who better to fill the sizeable shoes of the maverick promoter in “The End of Baseball” than Bill Veeck; the very man who was probably best known throughout the league for his flamboyant publicity stunts and the innovations he brought to baseball during his ownership of the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. I don’t think the author could have chosen a more suitable person than Veeck to help give this novel an authentic and realistic feel.
Continuing with the storyline; Veeck returns from Guadalcanal with a missing leg and five hundred dollars to his name. He manages to purchase the Philadelphia Athletics and gets rid of all the white players. In 1944 that was the entire roster. Unbeknownst to anyone except his business partner, Sam Dailey, Veeck secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues and signs them to play in the majors. In an era of war and racial segregation Veeck gambles everything on the hope that people’s love of seeing great baseball will overcome the integration of a black man into the major leagues.
In summary, I must say that “The End of Baseball” was a joy to read. I definitely prolonged it for as long as possible. Over the years I have read my fair share of baseball novels but in my opinion none of them can hold a candle to this one. Schilling has a fantastic writing style. His words flow smoothly. His descriptions will make the reader feel as if he or she is actually in the dugout watching baseball greats like Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard or Josh Gibson in person rather than reading about them in a book. While “The End of Baseball” is a work of fiction the author has done such a fantastic job that, at times, his readers may have trouble separating fact from fiction.
A definite “must read” for anyone who loves a great book…