Extraterrestrial Peril

The World Series, from its inception in 1903, has spawned many memorable tales, myths and legends. As such, there have been numerous books written about the history of the Fall Classic, which is on the verge of entering into its second hundred years. In Series Endings, Thomas Porky McDonald offers up an alternate take on the October showcase that has truly become an American classic. The question of “Why?”, as in “Why did this player make the last out of the World Series?” or “Why was another on the mound for the final out?” is broached herein. As the subtitle states, this is a whimsical look at the final plays of the Fall Classic. There are no concrete reasons given as to why Bill Mazeroski and Joe Carter are to date the only Major Leaguers to hit a Series ending home run, or as to why so many others have been less successful in the final moments of any particular Series. The idea that the final batter, pitcher or fielder being merely a matter of “luck of the draw” or “natural progression”, a cop-out as much as a reality, depending on your outlook, is dismissed as too obvious in Series Endings. What is related here are a number of disparate instances in the lives of those who at one time or another found themselves involved in the ultimate play of the final game of the competitive baseball season. Whether anything before or after their moment in the spotlight had any bearing on that moment is for the reader to decide. McDonald merely lays out the situations, before, after and during, in a thought-provoking volume, which also summarizes each of the 99 World Series played from 1903 through 2003.

Series Endings is a unique book that asks the casual observer, marginal fan or rabid “crank” to step back and consider the possibilities of life, using a century old institution as a backdrop. The existence of the “baseball gods”, which are clearly vibrant and alive to McDonald, is tossed up throughout, with previously unheralded names, such as Bob Kuzava, Debs Garms and Charlie “Boss” Schmidt weaving seamlessly with more well known characters such as Babe Ruth, Pepper Martin and Jackie Robinson. All of these men, along with so many others, have at some point been involved in the final play of a World Series. These stories fuel this resultant book, one unlike any ever written about baseball’s Fall Classic.