Audiobook

My Thirty Years In Baseball

The autobiography of John Joseph McGraw, another one of the "greats" of baseball. McGraw, along with Casey Stengel, has managed the most league pennants, with ten. He also holds the NL record for seasons managed, with 31 (thirty with the Giants and one with the original Orioles). He is third among major league managers in wins with 2,763, behind Connie Mack and Tony La Russa, though, at .586, McGraw's winning percentage as a manager is about .050 higher than La Russa's and .100 higher than Mack's. This book tells, in his own words, the hows and whys of his remarkable career, from player to manager. - Summary by cavaet

Year of Publication: 1923Genres: Sports & Recreation , Biography & Autobiography

Running Time: 06 hours 07 minutes 17 seconds

#	Chapter Name
1	Introduction by George M. Cohan Cavaet	1:56
2	Chapter I: What McGraw told his team the day before the recent World's Series began -- Why Babe Ruth failed to shine -- Do college men make the best ball players? Cavaet	7:57
3	Chapter II: The new play that ruined the Yanks -- Outwitting Joe Bush -- Twenty-five dollars fine for a home run that won the game. Cavaet	7:56
4	Chapter III: Individual vs. team work -- The "I thought" ball players -- What happened to Snodgrass for the error in Boston that lost the World's Series? Cavaet	8:00
5	Chapter IV: A manager's troubles with picturesque characters -- Bugs Raymond, the spitball pitcher, and his trial by a newspeper jury. Cavaet	8:48
6	Chapter V: Schreckengost and the "Cracker" contract -- How Rube Waddell put one over on Connie Mack -- Walter Brodie "waits out" a Boston pitcher. Cavaet	7:12
7	Chapter VI: How McGraw, batting left-handed, learned to hit into left field -- The curve that couldn't be pitched -- First professional days with the Olean team. Cavaet	7:55
8	Chapter VII: Early experiences in Cedar Rapids -- The half-wit who emptied the grandstand -- Sammy Strang the first pinch hitter. Cavaet	7:45
9	Chapter VIII: The freshest ball player -- First meeting with Pop Anson -- McGraw's "jump" to the Baltimore Orioles -- The first big league game. Cavaet	7:42
10	Chapter IX: Is modern baseball superior to old? -- Plays that were never heard of thirty years ago -- Origin of the "charley horse" -- New spirt of the game. Cavaet	8:14
11	Chapter X: The "bench" school of training -- McGraw shifted to second base -- First meeting with Hugh Jennings -- Trading experinece for an education. Cavaet	8:00
12	Chapter XI: Ned Hanlon starts a revolution in baseball -- How Jennings improved his batting average -- Invention of the "hit and run" play -- New blood for the Orioles. Cavaet	7:55
13	Chapter XII: "Hit-'Em-Where-They-Ain't" Keeler -- The greatest team in baseball history -- Horseshoe luck that beat the Giants. Cavaet	7:34
14	Chapter XIII: Oratory that misfired -- The mustache era in baseball -- Umpire Jack Kerns and the lemon "strike." Cavaet	6:45
15	Chapter XIV: The invisible ball -- Folly of baiting the umpire -- Joe Kelley and the hundred dollar watch. Cavaet	6:42
16	Chapter XV: Baseball fans now better sportsmen -- "Steve" Brodie and the heckler -- Old "Well! Well!" -- The darkey rooter who asked to be lynched. Cavaet	6:36
17	Chapter XVI: The real mark of superiority in a ball team -- Secret of Ty Cobb's success -- The "steal and slam" play -- McGraw's speciality -- Effect of the lively ball. Cavaet	7:43
18	Chapter XVII: "Bench" vs. "coach line" managers -- How signals are given -- Personal contact in spring training. Cavaet	7:04
19	Chapter XVIII: Difference between major and minor leaguers -- Drilling the recruit -- Mastering the slide -- A pitcher's peculiar fault. Cavaet	7:17
20	Chapter XIX: Temperaments of rookie twirlers -- The trouble with Rube Marquard -- When is a curve not a curve? -- Exit the "spitball." Cavaet	7:00
21	Chapter XX: Origin of the World's Series idea -- The spree that cost the Orioles the championship -- Trouble over series receipts -- First intimation of "fixed" games. Cavaet	7:27
22	Chapter XXI: Gambling nearly kills the national sport -- McGraw makes base-stealing record -- An umpire's compliment -- Players' share of gate receipts. Cavaet	7:49
23	Chapter XXII: The Orioles planted in Brooklyn -- McGraw a manager -- Bucking the syndicate -- McGinnity comes to Baltmore. Cavaet	7:24
24	Chapter XXIII: Cutting down the big league -- McGraw sold to St. Louis -- Playing baseball and the ponies. Cavaet	7:30
25	Chapter XXIV: Growth of the American League -- Disagreement with Ban Johnson -- McGraw accepts management of New York Giants, 1902. Cavaet	7:53
26	Chapter XXV: McGraw's wide-open contract -- Christy Mathewson as a first baseman -- Roger Bresnahan, pitcher -- Rebuilding a team. Cavaet	7:02
27	Chapter XXVI: Christy Mathewson becomes a pitcher-- His wonderful memory -- Other phases of the personality that made "Matty" the greatest twirler that ever lived. Cavaet	7:19
28	Chapter XXVII: How Mathewson stopped the "squeeze play" -- Coveleskie's scheme for keeping track of base runners -- "Crazy" Schmidt discovers "Pop" Anson's "weakness." Cavaet	6:25
29	Chapter XXVIII: Brodie forgets to score -- The umpire who "talked back" to Dummy Taylor -- McGraw's fifty-dollar umbrella joke -- Wilbert Robinson and the balloon ascension. Cavaet	6:41
30	Chapter XXIX: Bresnahan becomes a catcher -- American League formed in New York -- Why the Giants refused to play a World's Series in 1904 -- The Giants beat the Philadelphia Athletics in their first World's Series, 1905. Cavaet	7:27
31	Chapter XXX: Greatest ball team McGraw ever managed -- "Vegetable reception" of the Giants in Pittsburgh -- Skylarking. Cavaet	7:07
32	Chapter XXXI: Sam Merteas's great catch -- Keeler pulls one out of the barbed wire -- The danger of the sunfield. Cavaet	6:42
33	Chapter XXXII: Science of managing a ball team -- Hitting the weak spots -- Why base running is a lost art -- The delayed steal. Cavaet	7:40
34	Chapter XXXIII: The affadavit -- Making a ball club -- Getting back at the fans -- Police protection in Cincinnati. Cavaet	6:54
35	Chapter XXXIV: Greatest hit ever made -- What actually happened the day Merkle failed to touch second -- Longest wallop on record. Cavaet	6:21
36	Chapter XXXV: What happens when a ball team grows old -- Big trades -- A new batch of famous youngsters. Cavaet	7:34
37	Chapter XXXVI: The check on personal habits of players -- Best way to keep in condition -- The pitcher who ate his way out of the league. Cavaet	6:46
38	Chapter XXXVII: Interesting development of the game -- 1907-12, Philadelphia Athletics in first rank -- The team that "stole" the pennant -- Marquard and Mathewson do some explaining. Cavaet	7:34
39	Chapter XXXVIII: Greatest of all ball players -- The longest throw on record. Cavaet	7:40
40	Chapter XXXIX: Has the lively ball taken the pep out of the national game? -- Base running a lost art. Cavaet	7:23
41	Chapter XL: The All-American team of thirty years -- What McGraw thinks would be the greatest ballclub in the world - and why. Cavaet	6:59
42	Chapter XLI: Analysing the players on McGraw's All-American team of all time -- Infielders and outfielders who contributed innovations to the sport. Cavaet	7:12
43	Chapter XLII: The Hall of Fame pitchers -- Devore's experience with Walter Johnson's "smoke" -- Rube Waddell's hands. Cavaet	7:31
44	Chapter XLIII: McGraw picks the All-National League team of thirty years -- The first "floater" pitcher -- Delehanty's record -- Four home runs in one game. Cavaet	6:32
45	Chapter XLIV: The All-American League team -- Greatest of all spitball pitchers -- Ty Cobb vs. Tris Speaker. Cavaet	7:06
46	Chapter XLV: A defense of the sand-lot player -- Baseball as a training school for other professions. Cavaet	7:34
47	Chapter XLVI: Around the world with the White Sox -- Baseball and the crime wave -- Meeting with the King of England. Cavaet	7:18
48	Chapter XLVII: The mutton pie episode in London -- Playing before the Khedive of Egypt -- The Federal League's offer to McGraw -- Why the Federal League died. Cavaet	6:46
49	Chapter XLVIII: Why baseball unions fail -- McGraw's personal suggestions for a real ball players' fraternity. Cavaet	6:21
50	Chapter XLIX: Should a ball player marry? -- Two kinds of wives -- The marital year of grace. Cavaet	6:21
51	Chapter L: The commissioner of baseball -- Why he was needed -- A tribute to Judge Landis. Cavaet	6:58