Most baseball fans know of the amazing accomplishments Hall of Fame members achieved on the field, from Joe DiMaggios 56-game hit streak to Cy Youngs 511 career wins. But few are as familiar with the ballplayers lives away from the diamondespecially those icons who played before the Internet and 24/7 media coverage. Beyond their baseball statistics, what kind of individuals were they? How did they conduct themselves out of the spotlight? What made them tick?InBeyond the Ballpark: The Honorable, Immoral, and Eccentric Lives of Baseball Legends, John A. Woodlooks at the personal lives of fifty members of the Hall of Fame, examining their childhoods, families, influences, life-changing events, defining moments, and more. The players range from the really good guys to bizarre characters and even the downright immoral. The author considers how tragedies may have impacted players, such as the shooting of Ty Cobbs beloved father by his own mother, and seeks to explain the dispositions of others, such as why the great Rogers Hornsby couldnt seem to get along with anybody.By taking a closer look at who the players were as men,Beyond the Ballparkcaptures the essence of these fifty Hall of Famers. Including such names as Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth, this book is for all fans who are interested in more than just a ballplayers statistics.

John A. Wood is professor emeritus of religion at Baylor University. He is the author ofPerspectives on War in the Bible(1998) andThe Panthers and the Militias: Brothers under the Skin?(2002). Wood is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.

PrologueAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: The Good GuysChapter 1: Wilbert Robinson 18631934Chapter 2: Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy 18621956Chapter 3: Denton True Young 18671955Chapter 4: Napoleon Lajoie 18741959Chapter 5: John Peter Wagner 18741955Chapter 6: Joseph Jerome McGinnity 18711929Chapter 7: Christopher Mathewson 18801925Chapter 8: Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown 18761948Chapter 9: Charles Albert Bender 18841954Chapter 10: Walter Johnson 18871946Chapter 11: John Franklin Baker 18861963Chapter 12: Charles Arthur Vance 18911961Chapter 13: George Harold Sisler 18931973Chapter 14: Harold Joseph Traynor 18981972Chapter 15: Joseph Vincent McCarthy 18871978Chapter 16: Henry Benjamin Greenberg 19111986Chapter 17: George Clyde Kell 19222009Part II: The Mixed BagsChapter 18: John McGraw 18731934Chapter 19: Edward Augustine Walsh 1882?1959Chapter 20: Tyrus Raymond Cobb 18861961Chapter 21: Edward Trowbridge Collins 18871951Chapter 22: Tristram Speaker 18881958Chapter 23: Rogers Hornsby 18961963Chapter 24: Waite Charles Hoyt 18991984Chapter 25: William Harold Terry 18981989Chapter 26: Robert Moses Grove 19001975Chapter 27: Paul Glee Waner (19031965) and Lloyd James Waner (19061982)Chapter 28: Carl Hubbell 19031988Chapter 29: Leo Ernest Durocher 19051991Chapter 30: Joseph Paul DiMaggio 19141999Chapter 31: Mickey Charles Mantle 19311995Part III: The EccentricsChapter 32: George Edward Waddell 18761914Chapter 33: Richard William Marquard 18861980Chapter 34: Walter James Vincent Maranville 18911954Chapter 35: Charles Dillon Stengel 18901975Chapter 36: George Herman Ruth 18951948Chapter 37: Leroy Paige 19061982Chapter 38: Jay Hanna Dean 19101974Chapter 39: Vernon Louis Gomez 19081989Part IV: The Sad CasesChapter 40: Edward James Delahanty 18671903Chapter 41: The Tragic Trio of Tinker, Evers, and ChanceChapter 42: Grover Cleveland Alexander 18871950Chapter 43: Henry Louis Gehrig 19031941Chapter 44: Lewis Robert Wilson 19001948Chapter 45: James Emory Foxx 19071967Chapter 46: Joshua Gibson 19111947Chapter 47: Jack Roosevelt Robinson 19191972NotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author