Series Endings: ...a Whimsical Look at the Final Plays of Baseball's Fall Classic 1903-2003

The World Series, from itsinception in 1903, has spawned many memorable tales, myths and legends. As such, there have been numerous bookswritten about the history of the Fall Classic, which is on the verge of enteringinto its second hundred years. In SeriesEndings, Thomas Porky McDonald offers up an alternate take on the Octobershowcase that has truly become an American classic. The question of "Why?",as in "Why did this player make the last out of the World Series?" or "Why wasanother on the mound for the final out?" is broached herein. As the subtitle states, this is a whimsicallook at the final plays of the Fall Classic. There are no concrete reasons given as to whyBill Mazeroski and Joe Carter are to date the onlyMajor Leaguers to hit a Series ending home run, or as to why so many othershave been less successful in the final moments of any particular Series. The idea that the final batter, pitcher orfielder being merely a matter of "luck of the draw" or "natural progression", acop-out as much as a reality, depending on your outlook, is dismissed as tooobvious in Series Endings. Whatis related here are a number of disparate instances in the lives of those whoat one time or another found themselves involved inthe ultimate play of the final game of the competitive baseball season. Whether anything before orafter their moment in the spotlight had any bearing on that moment is for thereader to decide. McDonald merelylays out the situations, before, after and during, in a thought-provokingvolume, which also summarizes each of the 99 World Seriesplayed from 1903 through 2003. Series Endings is a uniquebook that asks the casual observer, marginal fan or rabid "crank" to step backand consider the possibilities of life, using a century old institution as abackdrop. The existence of the "baseballgods", which are clearly vibrant and alive to McDonald, is tossed upthroughout, with previously unheralded names, such as Bob Kuzava, Debs Garms and Charlie "Boss" Schmidt