Few baseball fans are aware of the number of players with disabilities who have succeeded in the majors. Much of this unawareness is due to the affected players themselves who downplay weaknesses and tend to minimize their disabilities

For major league baseball, the decade following Jackie Robinson's 1947 debut was one of slow yet persistent change. Four other black players made their first, brief big-league appearances that year, followed by only two in 1948 and four in 1949. But by the end of 1959, 122 black ballplayers had made it to the big leagues. Like Robinson, their lives were made difficult off the field, and on it they dodged beanballs and spikes. This book brings attention to the accomplishments of this transitional generation of African American players--made up of men like Luscious Luke Easter, Sam "The Jet"...

Baseball's Top 40 Comebacks profiles forty big leaguers who engineered remarkable comebacks to salvage fading baseball careers. Details of each comeback is provided along with a summary of the players career. The players profiled range from Hall of Famers like Ted Williams and Stan Musial; to near-greats like Tommy John and Luis Tiant; to journeyman performers like George McQuinn and Tony Cuccinello.

In the absence of widely accepted statistical standards to evaluate comebacks, the selection and ranking of the top comebacks is compiled in accordance with the following criteria:...