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Sunday, May 25, 2003

By Rick Shrum, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Here's the newest crop of titles about baseball in Pittsburgh:

	"Big and Little Poison: Paul and Lloyd Waner, Baseball Brothers" By Clifton Blue Parker McFarland & Co. ($29.95 softcover)

With 5,611 hits between them, Paul and Lloyd -- Big Poison and Little Poison -- were the best-hitting brother combination in the majors.

They spent most of their careers in the Pittsburgh outfield, Paul, the older arriving in 1925, Lloyd showing up in 1927. In that pennant-winning year, Paul collected 237 hits, Lloyd 233, of which 208 were singles, a record.

In baseball-happy Pittsburgh, the Waner brothers, along with Pie Traynor and Arky Vaughan, were the shining lights in a otherwise dull era that ended in the painful 1938 collapse in the twilight gloom of Wrigley Field.

Parker's biography of the brothers mixes quotes from players and writers with a straightforward narration and a selection of photos, some from family and friends.

It's a hard-working effort, marred by errors. Hardly a chapter goes by without one, all avoidable. Research is tough, but there's no excuse for the casual mistakes.

-- Bob Hoover

	"The Pirates Reader" Edited By Richard Peterson University of Pittsburgh Press ($27)

Richard Peterson grew up on the South Side during the 1940s and '50s. So, incredibly, did his affinity for Pirates baseball.

He embraced the local club at a time when, except for Ralph Kiner, there was little to embrace. The Pirates were mostly dreadful during Peterson's formative years, amassing 10 losing seasons out of 11 from 1946 through 1956, when he graduated from high school.

Amid this ineptitude, Peterson maintained his allegiance to the Pirates. He did so even after settling in the Midwest and into a teaching job at Southern Illinois University in the late 1960s, often tuning into games on a fading KDKA radio at night.

His passion has led to this 339-page compilation of newspaper reports, magazine articles, essays and short stories that chronicle much of the history of the franchise, from its inception in 1882 in the American Association, to its switch to the National League five years later, and to the opening of PNC Park in 2001.

From Traynor to Waner to Haddix, from Clemente to Stargell to Mazeroski, from five World Series titles to the notorious drug trials of 1985, this collection is entertaining and enlightening.

Getting through the works of old-style reporters, prior to 1950, is sometimes laborious, but the majority of the writing is exhilarating, with such noted authors as Roger Angell on Steve Blass, Roy McHugh and Bob Broeg on Pie Traynor and, a personal favorite, W.C. Kinsella's fictional account of meeting Roberto Clemente long after his death.

In choosing the writings, Peterson may have focused too much on 1960, though a case can be made for that being the most enjoyable of 117 Pirates seasons. But overall, his work is championship caliber.

	"Tales From the Prates Dugout, A Collection of the Greatest Pirates Stories Ever Told" By John McCollister Sports Publishing. $19.95

John McCollister wastes no words. The introduction to this paean to his longtime favorite baseball team begins: "This is a love story."

His book is not rich from a literary standpoint, with 79 chapters in 188 pages, each devoted in snippet fashion to a Pirates personality from A to Y -- Babe Adams to Kevin Young, in that order.

And the author has some conspicuous errors. In a section on Steve Blass, McCollister refers to the fifth and deciding game of the 1972 National League Championship Series, a loss to the Cincinnati Reds that endures as one of the most heart-wrenching for longtime Pirates fans.

Parker writes that Tony Perez scored the winning run on Bob Moose's wild pitch. In reality, it was George Foster, a pinch runner for Perez.

There are many marvelous anecdotes, though -- some known, some not well known: Bob Prince's dive into a pool from the third story of his hotel window; Clyde "Pooch" Barnhart, a rookie in 1920, hitting safely in every game of the last triple-header in major-league history; Ted Beard, a .198 batter with five home runs during his Pirates career (1948-52), launching the second ball over the right-field roof at Forbes Field. (Babe Ruth hit the first one.)

Then there was the Hall of Fame outfielder and carouser of whom a close friend said: "The best right fielder the Pirates ever had was Paul Waner when he was sober. The second-best right fielder the Pirates ever had was Paul Waner when he was drunk."

McCollister is not a prose stylist, but he has compiled an easy, breezy read for Pirates partisans.

-- Rick Shrum

	"Ted Williams: Hey Kid, Just Get It Over the Plate" By Russ Kemmerer with W.C. Madden Madden Publishing ($19.95)

Russ Kemmerer was a man of letters at Peabody High School --15 of them in five sports when he graduated in 1949.

Kemmerer was a 6-foot-6 inch reed of a youth who played freshman basketball at the University of Pittsburgh, then dropped out when the Boston Red Sox offered a $3,000 bonus. His East Liberty family, including six children, was struggling, so he opted for the money and professional baseball.

A right-handed pitcher, Kemmerer fired a one-hitter in his major-league debut in 1954. He spent nine seasons in the major leagues with four teams, having moderate success, and retired in 1963 as a member of the Houston Colt 45s (now Astros). He retired as an English teacher in Indianapolis in 1998.

Now, 40 years after his playing days, Kemmerer has written his memoirs with W.C. Madden, a time he calls a "golden age" with great justification. Some of the best players in baseball history were active at that time.

The title was inspired by Kemmerer's first encounter with the fabled Williams. At 18, just out of Peabody, Kemmerer was invited to pitch batting practice before the Red Sox brass in June 1949. Obviously nervous, he was calmed by those words from Williams and didn't forget it.

Kemmerer's writing is not scintillating and a number of pictures are of posed individuals. But photos of his family and from his Peabody playing days are worthy of a look, and he has a number of interesting stories about teammates and opponents.

-- Rick Shrum