Great Stuff

Who never heard of Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters? Or Christy Mathewson's three shutouts in one World Series? Or Steve Carlton winning 27 games for a last-place team that won a total of only 59 games? These and a variety of other pitching feats comprise the contents of Rich Westcott's latest book, Great Stuff: Baseball's Most Amazing Pitching Feats. However, this is not a book that focuses on career records. Nor does it concentrate only on the great pitchers of the game. Rather, this is a book that pays tribute to special achievements, some of which were performed in one game, others of which took place during one season, and still others that were an accumulation of related accomplishments performed over an extended period. In their own way, all were very special. None of these feats was ever duplicated. Each one stands alone as a singular achievement, from Carl Hubbell, who won 24 games in a row; to Bob Feller, who threw 15 strikeouts in his major league debut at the age of 17; to Nolan Ryan, owner of seven no-hitters. A seasoned baseball writer, Westcott explores these feats and many more in Great Stuff .