Wits, Flakes, and Clowns

The Colorful Characters of Baseball

Wits, Flakes, and Clowns

The Colorful Characters of Baseball

Wayne Stewart (Author)

Hardback ~~$61.50~~ $55.35 Ebook (Epub & Mobi) ~~$55.35~~ $44.28 Ebook (PDF) ~~$55.35~~ $44.28

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Description

Throughout the twentieth century, baseball has been blessed with a slew of colorful characters, funny men, and “flakes.” And though many fans lament the apparent vanishing of such players, there are still plenty of characters in the game today.

In Wits, Flakes, and Clowns: The Colorful Characters of Baseball, Wayne Stewart brings to life the funniest, craziest, and cleverest men ever associated with the game. From the hilarious but unheralded Casey Candaele and the witty Andy Van Slyke to All-Stars Jimmy Piersall and Bryce Harper, this book shares many never-before-heard stories about some of the most entertaining men in baseball. In addition, this book features quotes from personal player interviews with the author that span decades, providing a personal, inside look at these zany stars.

Wits, Flakes, and Clowns is packed with rich and colorful characters and plenty of humor, as well as unexpected insights into the national pastime. It is a celebration of those unique players who keep fans and teammates on their toes, those known for their wit, their pranks, or for doing just about anything for a laugh. Any baseball fan, but especially those who love the humor of the game, will be entertained by the exploits of the game’s most comical players.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: Background
2: Kings of the Hill: The Most Colorful Pitchers Ever
3: Kings of the Diamond: The Most Colorful Position Players of All Time
4: Quick Takes on the Princes of Pranks and Zaniness
5: The Royal Jesters: Honorary Mentions
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Product details

Published	Mar 11 2020
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	272
ISBN	9781538125212
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Dimensions	241 x 162 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Wayne Stewart

Detailing legendary jokesters and pranksters of the past 70 years, [Stewart] lists 135 players and managers who craved the limelight while goofing off on the field and in the clubhouse . . . Stewart wildly entertains in this offbeat history.

Publishers Weekly
For younger readers less likely to be familiar with personalities of yesteryear, Wits, Flakes, and Clowns will help cultivate a sense of the richness of baseball's past and its humorous quirkiness. Stewart's extended profiles invite deeper inspection of these luminaries thanks to recent biographies of these Hall-of-Famers.

NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture
Wayne Stewart has written a book on baseball’s most colorful and clever characters. It has lots of great, funny stories any baseball fan should enjoy.

Ken Griffey, All-Star Game MVP in 1980 and lifetime .296 hitter. Member of Cincinnati's Big Red Machine
Wits, Flakes, and Clowns: The Colorful Characters of Baseball covers so many of the funniest, wittiest, and flakiest players from long ago to the present that it is bound to entertain every baseball fan. Lots of laughs are in store as you read about the men who enriched the game—from those who gave us clever quotes to the pranksters and the so-called clowns of the game, Wayne Stewart's book delivers.

Vernon Law, 1960 Cy Young Award winner
Humor is a side of baseball that I think is important. Stories in baseball are rampant. I don't hear so much in football and basketball, but you get a baseball guy started and you'll hear a lot of stories. There's something magic about baseball. I think one thing about baseball that gets overlooked is the human side of players—and that's what this book is all about.

Carl Erskine, All-Star and 20-game winner who threw two no-hitters in the 1950s