Great Home Runs of the 20th Century

Rich Westcott

Narrated by Gary Willprecht

Available from Audible

Book published by Temple University Press

The home run is the single most dramatic moment in baseball. Often it has been the exclamation point that appears at the end of a game, a season, a playoff, or a World Series. For fans, certain images—such as that of Carlton Fisk urging his shot fair over Green Monster or of Kirk Gibson limping around the bases—are engraved in memory.

From Babe Ruth to Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, the author tells of the stories, complete with box scores and photographs, of what he has selected as the thirty most memorable home runs. Many of the stories include comments from the author’s interviews with home run hitters. Other sections cover sixty additional noteworthy home runs, All Star Game home runs, and milestones such as total home run production and grand slams.

In Rich Westcott’s journey through baseball history, fans will encounter the most famous moments and longest blast, as well as fascinating sidelights like these about balls that didn’t travel as far.

Rich Westcott has been a writer and editor for almost 40 years. He is the author of 10 other books, all published by Temple University Press. He is the founder of Phillies Report, the nation's oldest continuous, baseball team newspaper. Currently, Westcott teaches sportswriting at LaSalle University and is an official scorer at Phillies games.

REVIEWS:

“This book is a home run on its own and I'm proud to be part of it.”

—Mr. October, Reggie Jackson

“Great Home Runs of the 20th Century is an exciting book. It's well worth reading. You really learn a lot about some of the top moments in baseball history. I think it's a great book.”

—Tommy Lasorda, former Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Hall of Fame member, and skipper of the 2000 U.S. Olympic gold medal baseball team

“With Great Home Runs of the 20th Century, Rich Westcott has written a reference book with insight and flair. He goes yard with Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Whitey Kurowski and Rick Dempsey, filling in the blanks with special touches that make their homers such an integral part of the game's history. It's an enjoyable and informative read.”

—Jerry Crasnick, Bloomberg News

“A must for any baseball library.”

—Jerome Holtzman, Official baseball historian for Major League Baseball

“Rich Westcott has hit a more run himself with Great Home Runs of the 20th Century. This is the first definitive reference book of all the great home runs in baseball history, and, as such, a 'must' for any student of the game. Ever since Babe Ruth led us out of the 'dead ball; era, home runs have reigned supreme in baseball and Westcott has performed a service to fans by documenting the most important ones.”

—Bill Madden, New York Daily News