Inside the great expanse of a ballgame is the essential core of what Roger Kahn, one of the national pastime's most esteemed chroniclers, calls "chess at 90 miles per hour." That core, of course, is the duel between pitcher and hitter. At its best--which is where Kahn wants to play--it's as cerebral, complex, and psychological a contest as exists in sports, hence the title of this fascinating exploration of how baseball's basic confrontation, told from the pitcher's perspective, has evolved over time.
Drawing from his vast knowledge and long experience, Kahn parses the battle from every angle, dissecting the wizardry of hurlers both ancient--Candy Cummings, Hoss Radbourn, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson--and modern--Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Bruce Sutter, Tom Glavine. It is vintage Kahn--he manages to mix personal memoir with astute analysis. He examines tangibles, such as the height of the mound, and intangibles, such as the fear factor carried by every pitch, without ever taking his eye off the ball. And he's not above a few laughs and surprises. When he makes out his subjective list of the best pitchers of all time, he naturally includes Matty, Koufax, and Warren Spahn, but he also throws in a guy named Jerry Solovey. Jerry who? Kahn tells us he played in the low minors. So why's he here? "He could," Kahn admits, "almost always get me out." Like an able hurler, Kahn knows how to mix it up. He's got enough command as a writer to know how--and when--to bounce an occasional curveball or scroogie in the dirt for effect. --Jeff Silverman
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