Burial at Home Plate

Book excerpt: About the Book Burial at Home Plate offers a colorful look at the Pittsburgh Pirates, with an emphasis on offbeat moments in team history. Read about the doubleheader completed underwater; the Pittsburgh outfielders whose pursuit of a batted ball was halted by a gun-wielding Cincinnati fan; the pitcher who earned a victory while taking a nap; the dead man who tied a franchise record for games played; the sparrow that flew from beneath batter Casey Stengel’s cap; and the rookie who struck out while seated on the bench. Burial at Home Plate touches on the indoor game that was rained out; the throng of 50,000 that turned out in Pittsburgh for a game played more than 400 miles away; the tipsy pitcher who fell asleep inside the tarp during a game; the future MVPs who delivered their first major league hits while still in the minors; the FBI agent who “pinch hit” for Ralph Kiner; and the Pirates manager who disproved the notion that you can’t steal first base. Burial at Home Plate also shines the spotlight on the Green Weenie, the alabaster plaster, Aunt Minnie, the Rickey Dinks, Destiny’s Darlings, Dr. Strangeglove, eephus pitches and—the inspiration for the book’s title—a strange pre-game interment that took place at home plate. About the Author Bob Fulton has written extensively about the Pittsburgh Pirates for regional and national publications such as Sports History, Pittsburgh Magazine, The National Pastime, Pittsburgh Sports Now, Pennsylvania, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game program and On Deck, formerly the official magazine of the Pirates. His work has also appeared in American Heritage, Football Digest, The NCAA News, NFL Exclusive, Delta Sky, Marathon and Beyond, Basketball Weekly, Referee, The Elks Magazine, Collegiate Baseball and Sports Heritage, among others. Fulton is the author of The Summer Olympics: A Treasury of Legend and Lore; Never Lost a Game (Time Just Ran Out); Top Ten Baseball Stats: Interesting Rankings of Players, Managers, Umpires and Teams; and Pirates Treasures: Facts, Feats, Firsts in Pittsburgh Pirates History. In addition, his story on the major league debut of 15-year-old pitcher Joe Nuxhall was included in an anthology, The Ol’ Ball Game. Fulton, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, resides in Indiana, Pa.