Professional athletes ingrain themselves on the collective
memory of fans who stockpile memories of the exploits of their favorites. These evolve into legacies, which linger long
after the athlete is done playing. Unfortunately, some pass way too young,
including pitcher Urban
Shocker, who was dead at the age of 37; less than a year removed from being
the ace for the fabled 1927 New York Yankees. The largely forgotten story of
this great hurler has been reinvigorated by Steve Steinberg’s Urban Shocker: Silent Heroes of Baseball’s
Golden Age (University of Nebraska Press- 2017).
Steinberg, a seasoned baseball historian and writer has
found a hero that is largely missing from the lexicon of many aficionados of
the sport. Shocker was a right-hander who won 187 games with a 3.17 ERA between
1916 and 1928 for the St. Louis Browns and the Yankees. A spitballer, he was
truly one of the best in the game, racking up 91 wins in the four-year span of
1920-1923. He was brought down by a bad heart that limited him in the twilight
of his career and ultimately killed him.
Shocker is remembered as a rather taciturn man, which only
helps him recede into the shadows of baseball memories past. His greatest
success also came with the Yankees, where it was easy to be pushed out of the
spotlight by the likes of Ruth and Gehrig. However, the hurler was a near
Hall-of-Famer in his own right, which makes this biography a needed entry into
the baseball catalog.
Like many players of his generation, Shocker had a unique
path to the majors. He didn’t start playing professional ball until he was 22
and was nearly 30 before he became a big league regular. However, once he
gained his foothold he was immediately respected, and Steinberg does an
excellent job of digging up testimonies of his peers who discussed their
trepidation in facing him or delight in watching him hurl the bean.
Part of the intrigue with Shocker was his ability to make
the ball move like few pitchers before and since. Again, the author beat the
bushes to find anecdotes to relate exactly how conniving and effective he was
with his craft.
While Shocker certainly is a fascinating character, his
story is not one that matches some others in terms of ribaldry and sensation.
He had his struggles with alcohol and a failed marriage, but his existence
remained typically out of the limelight and thus doesn’t give him as much flare
as other historical baseball figures.
Aside from his talent and results on the field, Shocker will
be remembered primarily for his untimely death. His final year of life is
extraordinary, as he tried to hold on to his career as he was wracked by rising
age and ravaging heart disease. Despite having to sleep sitting up, losing a
dangerous amount of weight and often feeling faint, he pushed through. In the
weeks up until he died he was still trying to pitch on a semi-pro basis in the
hopes it would lead him back to the majors (he pitched in just one big league
game in 1928, the year that he died).
Steinberg has put together a nice biography of one of baseball
lesser-known standouts. This will likely be more appreciated by a baseball fan
or researcher instead of a casual reader but it is well-written and researched.
The importance of mining baseball research and making it a consumable product
cannot be understated. Urban Shocker
delivers on this and then some.
Disclaimer: I was provided with
a free copy of the book being reviewed by the publisher, but received no
payment or other consideration for this review.
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