From the author of Baseball 100
"A fascinating account of a man who outlasted the ignorance of a
nation and persevered to become a beloved figure...One of the best
baseball books in years, filled with depth style and clarity."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
An award-winning sports columnist and a baseball legend tour the country
to recapture the joys and wonders of two of America's greatest pastimes
When legendary Negro League player Buck O'Neil asked sports columnist
Joe Posnanski how he fell in love with baseball, that simple question
eventually led the pair on a cross-country quest to recapture the love
that first drew them to the game. Baseball & Jazz recounts their
emotional quest to find the heart of America's beloved sport that still
beats despite the scandal-ridden, steroid-shooting, money hungry
athletes who currently seem to define the sport. At its heart is the
story of 94-year-old Buck O'Neil--a man that truly played for the love
of the game. After an impressive career in the Negro Baseball Leagues in
which he earned two hitting titles and one championship, O'Neil made
baseball history by becoming the first African-American coach in major
league baseball. Posnanski writes about that love and the one thing that
O'Neil cherishes almost as much as baseball: jazz. This heartwarming and
insightful journey is an endearing step back in time to the days when
the crack of a bat and the smokey notes of a midnight jam session were
the sounds that brought the most joy to a man's heart.
