I know what you’re thinking, it’s a long title for this post, but I didn’t want to cut the author short by cutting off his name. “Major League Baseball Players of 1916” is a great book for fans who loves the early days of baseball. It lists all of the players that played in 1916 and breaks down their careers while playing baseball and what most of them did after they retired from baseball.

McFarland Publishing is known for more in-depth books about single topic. They take something as broad as baseball and breaks down the game into tiny molecules, like a biographical dictionary of baseball player of 1916.

Some of the players of 1916 are Cy Young, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Dutch Leonard, Walter Johnson, Rube Foster, Ty Cobb, Mordecai Brown, Cheif Bender, and many more. Paul Batesel has a keen eye for intriguing facts that even the most knowledgeable fans didn’t know. I like the emphasis on the players careers after baseball. Not many people knew that Christy Mathewson died as the President of the Braves or that “Shoeless” Joe Jackson operated a liquor store before he died.

The “dead ball” era was full of characters that you know or you may not even have heard of. “Major League Baseball Players of 1916” is a nice introduction for some of these players. If you are a jaded baseball fan, this book may help you remember when it was just a game a lot of these players had other jobs.

There are many stories that you will never know unless you go out and purchase this book. You can order the book from McFarland Publishing or calling 1-800-253-2187.