Willie Mays: Five Tools, edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen Sparks

SABR Digital Library: Willie Mays: Five Tools

Willie Mays Five Tools, edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen SparksAdd a new baseball book to your collection from the SABR Digital Library:

Willie Mays: Five Tools
Edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen Sparks
Associate editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-960819-02-4, $9.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-960819-03-1, $29.95
8.5″ x 11″, 307 pages

Willie Mays thrilled baseball fans for more than two decades. He could do it all—in the outfield, at bat, and on the bases. Five Tools tells the story of arguably the greatest baseball player in the game’s history, through more than 20 insightful essays and recaps of over 30 of the most significant games in his career. Some essays explore Mays’ time in the Negro Leagues and minor leagues, while others examine the the relationship of Mays to his managers, the press, and his mentoring of Bobby and Barry Bonds.

The National League Rookie of the Year in 1951 with the New York Giants, Mays made his big-league debut just four years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s shameful color line. He brought with him a dynamic blend of power and speed. Just a few years into his amazing career, he left with his teammates for San Francisco.

Mays batted .301 lifetime and belted 660 home runs. He hit more than 50 homers in two seasons and led the National League in stolen bases four times. Mays also won 12 Gold Gloves for his fielding excellence in center field. The “Say Hey Kid” earned a spot on a record 24 All-Star teams. Incredibly, he won just two MVP awards.

A collaborative effort of 51 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), this book celebrates a player who was known by some as “Wondrous Willie.”

Contributors include: Jake Bell, Luis A. Blandón Jr., Kurt Blumenau, Richard Bogovich, Thomas J. Brown Jr., John J. Burbridge Jr., Frederick C. Bush, Alan Cohen, Richard Cuicchi, Dan Fields, James Forr, Brian M. Frank, John Fredland, Robert F. Garratt, Craig Garretson, Gordon J. Gattie, Steven M. Glassman, Duke Goldman, Chip Greene, Lou Hernández, Paul Hofmann, Jason Horowitz, Mike Huber, Douglas Jordan, David Kaiser, Brent Kallestad, Dave Lande, Kevin Larkin, Bob LeMoine, Len Levin, Chad Moody, Rob Neyer, Bill Nowlin, Tim Odzer, Tim Otto, Richard J. Puerzer, Stephen V. Rice, Carl Riechers, Howard Rosenberg, John T. Saccoman, Mark Simon, Glen Sparks, Creg Stephenson, Mark S. Sternman, Jeb Stewart, Stew Thornley, Tom Thress, Theo Tobel, Bob Webster, Daniel Winkler, and Gregory H. Wolf.

 

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About the SABR Digital Library

For more than 40 years, SABR and its members have led the way in publishing the best baseball historical and statistical research. Our publications program is shifting to take advantage of new methods of publishing. Not only will we continue to publish new books like Can He Play? A Look At Baseball Scouts and Their Profession (2011); Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century (2013); Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox (2015); Au jeu/Play Ball: The 50 Greatest Games in the History of the Montreal Expos (2016); The Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords (2020); and Jackie Robinson: Perspectives on 42 (2021), which showcase the best efforts of SABR’s members, chapters and committees, but new technology makes it possible for us to bring out-of-print titles like The Fenway Project (2013); Go-Go to Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox (2019); and Green Cathedrals (2020) back again.

Visit SABR.org/ebooks to find all past titles and download your favorites. Books will be available in digital formats as well as paperbacks produced by “print on demand” (POD).

SABR members can download all Digital Library e-book editions for free and save 50% on purchase of the paperback editions. If you’re not a member, click here to join SABR.

Stay tuned throughout the year for new (and old!) titles that we’ll be adding to the SABR Digital Library. To learn more about SABR Publications, contact Publications Editor Cecilia Tan at ctan@sabr.org.


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Originally published: May 3, 2023. Last Updated: April 27, 2023.