Rube Waddell : The Zany, Brilliant Life of a Strikeout Artist

George Edward "Rube" Waddell was one of the zaniest characters ever to play baseball. The legendary Connie Mack, who saw quite a few cards during his nearly seven decade stint in the majors, once observed that no other screwball he ever saw could hold a candle to Rube. Mack also said that Rube's curveball was the best he'd ever seen. Indeed, Waddell was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. Rube won 191 games in 13 seasons, had four straight 20-win seasons for Mack and the Philadelphia A's, and claimed six consecutive strikeout titles. In 1904 he struck out 349 batters, a record that held for six decades. This biography traces his early life in western Pennsylvania, the fits and starts of his first years in professional baseball, his big years with the A's, and his subsequent fade into obscurity and his early death in a sanatorium on April Fool's Day, 1914. General Fiction "As an artist of the pitcher's mound, Rube Waddell had it all. As a screwball of the first order, he had more: more zaniness, more mischief, more wild escapades than any ball player before or since." "Who else but George Edward Waddell would begin a game with an on-the-field wrestling match with the opposing team's first baseman? Who else might be found selling hot dogs or wrestling alligators when he was supposed to be on the mound?" "Who else but Rube could leave Cobb or Lajoie swinging belt-high while the catcher was digging the ball out of the dirt?" "Rich with detail, warm with anecdote, this book traces Waddell's life from his early childhood through his success in the majors, to his fade into obscurity and early death."--Jacket.