Ebook: The Pitch That Killed - Carl Mays, Ray Chapman and the Pennant Race of 1920

More than 30 years have passed since the initial publication of The Pitch That Killed. In that time, the book has garnered numerous literary awards and accolades, has been included on virtually every list assembled of the greatest baseball books ever written―from ESPN to SABR―and now is to be the basis of a film by Emmy Award winning director, Andy Billman, titled WAR ON THE DIAMOND.

Given the incredible drama described in The Pitch That Killed, it’s a wonder a movie wasn’t made years ago. The fateful encounter between archetypes of good and evil, Ray Chapman and Carl Mays, could not have been scripted any better. Add to that the thrilling 1920 pennant race, Babe Ruth’s ascension to baseball supremacy, and the banning of the Chicago Black Sox by Kenesaw Landis, and the story grows to one of the most compelling in baseball history.

The book remains the ultimate reference for one of baseball’s ultimate events. But history without insight and comprehension is just history. In The Pitch That Killed, author Mike Sowell brings a deep understanding of baseball in America as it emerged from the often corrupt and seedy Dead Ball Era, and the outsize role its heroes played in the lives of fans at the time. Only in this case, one of their heroes was killed.