Phil Dixon's American Baseball Chronicles Great Teams: 1931 Homestead Grays, Volume I
Simply put, “The Greatest Baseball team of all-time" quickly describes the 1931 Homestead Grays. They remain a team never to be forgotten—one that rates with the most outstanding teams in baseball history. The Grays’ well-known leader was Hall of Famer Cumberland “Cum” Posey. His 1931 Grays featured, among others, Hall of Fame third baseman Jud Wilson, Hall of Fame infielder Oscar Charleston, a Hall of Fame catcher in Josh Gibson, and two Hall of Fame pitchers in Willie Foster and Joseph “Smokey Joe” Williams—a total of five legendary players. Paced by young Josh Gibson, age 18, the best young home run hitter in baseball, Posey’s 1931 Homestead Grays finished with a magnificent 143-29-2 record for the 1931 season from start to finish. This book contains 354 pages of authoritative baseball information!
Phil Dixon's American Baseball Chronicles Great Teams: 1910 Chicago Leland Giants, Volume II
A Galaxy of Stars best describes Andrew “Rube” Foster’s 1910 Chicago Leland Giants. In their only season together, this combination of players played their way into the heart and soul of a nation divided. They are proof positive that the National and American Leagues did not corner the market on athletic talent. Foster's unit began the season with a thirty-two and one record, ending with thirty-one consecutive victories. They scored nearly 1,000 runs and finished the season with a 124-7-1 record. Their win total is elevated to 138-11-2 when Cuban Winter League games are combined. That Foster, John Henry Lloyd, and John "Pete" Hill, three members of the 1910 Leland Giants, are enshrined in Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, is worthy of closer observation. And yet, Bruce Petway, Frank Wickware, and Grant "Home Run" Johnson should be there, too. This book contains 450 pages of pure baseball!
Phil Dixon's American Baseball Chronicles Great Teams: 1905 Philadelphia Giants, Volume III
Philadelphia's 1905 African-American Giants were the first team of the last century to score 1,000 runs. The Giants were organized in 1902 by Harry A. Smith and H. Walter Schlichter and managed by veteran player/manager Solomon 'Sol' White. In 1904, the Giants defeated the Cuban X Giants to claim their first World Championship, a title they held for two more years. The White-led 1905 Philadelphia Giants featured, among others, outfielder Pete Hill, third baseman Bill Monroe, first baseman Mike Moore, second baseman Charlie Grant, and pitchers Emmett Bowman and Dan McClellan. White, Hill, and Foster are currently enshrined in Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame. Paced by Grant “Home Run” Johnson, the most powerful home run hitter in baseball, and Andrew “Rube” Foster, one of baseball’s best pitchers, White’s 1905 Philadelphia Giants finished the season with a magnificent 134-23-2 record. This book contains 302 pages of a baseball story that many will want to know.
Phil S. Dixon is a legendary baseball historian, a road warrior, a veracious interviewer, and a tireless researcher who has interviewed over 500 players, wives, and their offspring for a unique perspective of the Negro baseball experience, works for which he won a SABR MacMillan Award for his excellence in historical research. He is well-known for his many non-fiction books, which included “The Negro Baseball Leagues A Photographs History, 1867-1955,” a Casey Award winner. His freelance writing for the Kansas City Call led to a major league press pass, eventually landing him a job with the American League Kansas City Royals, where Dixon worked in Public Relations. In 1990 he co-founded the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City. He is the husband of Dr. (Kerry), his wife of 35 years, and father of three HBCU college graduates who represent (Langston, Howard, and Fisk). Phil, a Kansan at birth, now makes his home in Missouri with his wife and children while eagerly awaiting his weekly edition of the Kansas City Call.
