Seth Swirsky is an Everyfan, writing letters to ballplayers, asking them about key details of their careers and their craft. Here, Swirsky has elicited enlightening responses from many of today’s great pitchers, including Roger Clemens, Dave Cone, and Tom Glavine; received illuminating letters from Hall of Famers Steve Carlton and Juan Marichal; a surprising answer on the similarity between pitching and picking stocks from Warren Buffett; and uncovered such delights as the Sun-Maid Raisin lady who married a Major League pitcher. The result is a humorous, often moving testament to the greatness of the game and our admiration for players who hone their skills over a lifetime and achieve greatness on the field.

5 Responses to “Every Pitcher Tells a Story: Letters Gathered by a Devoted Fan”

1. Big D says:

   June 3, 2008 at 12:00 am

   Delightful book in which the game’s greatest pitchers, and some who yearn to be great, tell in their own words their memories of the game, still America’s pasttime.

   The first person, unedited memories make this book especially readable.

   Anyone who questions why baseball is the great American game need only read this book to understand.

   Reply
2. Steven R. Travers says:

   February 24, 2004 at 12:00 am

   “EVERY PITCHER TELL A STORY”

   Seth Swirsky is a Beverly Hills sports memorabilia collector who has spent a lifetime writing to baseball players and keeping the many letters and notes sent to him in return. “Every Pitcher Tells A Story” (1999, Time Books) is a compilation of those letters. While many of the athletes are not pitchers, Seth has a special fondness for moundsmen.
   “But the tales that pitchers tell stand out above those told by all other players,” Swirsky writes. “A pitcher stands alone on the mound…” Swirsky has compiled letters by pitchers in the Hall of Fame, and by pitchers the average baseball fan never heard of. His letters go back as far as Walter Johnson, but also includes such modern non-luminaries as Turk Wendell.
   Superstar Steve Carlton writes that he went silent because the press was “breaking the trust that came with their access to the players.” Roger Clemens refers to himself as “ROCKET”. Cy Young’s almost-indiscernible handwritten letter states that baseball cannot be learned “overnight.” Cy spent about 30 years in the big leagues, so he ought to know. Bill “Spaceman” Lee probably sprinkled too much marijuana on his pancakes the day he wrote his chicken-scratch letter to Swirsky. Other letters of note include one from Dick Nixon on the Vice President’s stationary; a once-classified order from O.S.S. boss “Wild Bill” Donavan directing catcher-turned-spy Moe Berg to capture a Nazi rocket scientist (Berg was later confused by a movie producer with the “Three Stooges” Moe); and self-publicity from “Ball Four” pitcher/author Jim Bouton.
   Perhaps the most interesting is the1923 typed correspondence on letterhead saying “BASEBALL,” in which Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis crushes banned “Black Sox” star “Shoeless Joe” Jackson’s desperate hope for re-instatement.

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3. Paul Bohannon says:

   July 13, 2000 at 12:00 am

   This book creates an air of baseball that few books allow. From star to skunk, it includes them all. But the stories from their own letters is all that surround baseball — the aura itself. Great reading.

   Reply
4. Gregory Sammons says:

   June 10, 2000 at 12:00 am

   This book is great! It’s a quick read but fascinating! The photographs are excellent and the handwritten replies give you a really cool perspective on the players. This book is one you will keep on the coffee table, so you can always pick it up and read a letter–especially the one regarding Shoeless Joe Jackson–it’s touching.

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5. Liz says:

   May 10, 2000 at 12:00 am

   I’m a huge baseball fan..I love anything and everything about it. I got this book for Christmas and I read it in less then a day. It was so addicting! I mean the stories in it are truely wonderful ( Turk Wendall…wild! lol ) I love to read stories of the greats and the players of today, the book has a great mixture of both! It’s an awesome book and one you will cherish forever! I really recommend it ( A LOT! ) Baseball 4ever!

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