Celebrating 100 Years of Baseball in Greater Binghamton: Tales from the Binghamton Baseball Shrine - Paperback

by Michael J. McCann (Author), Jim Maggiore (Author)

During its 100 years of hosting minor league baseball, Binghamton has been an affiliation of either the Yankees or the Mets for 57 years and the names of the players who have passed through Binghamton and are members of its shrine read like a Who's Who of baseball in New York City, including such notables as Edgardo Alfonzo, Clete Boyer, Whitey Ford, Lefty Gomez, Bobby Jones, "Wee Willie" Keeler, Thurman Munson, Joe Pepitone, Bobby Richardson, Ralph Terry, and Tom Tresh. Some of the other shrine members profiled in the book who achieved national fame in the game include "Wild Bill" Hallahan, Ken Harrelson, Tommy Holmes, umpire and broadcaster Ron Luciano, and Bill Virdon. Over 748 players who have played in Binghamton have gone on to play in the big leagues, with the majority of those playing in the Big Apple!

This book profiles the members of Binghamton's Baseball Shrine and also discusses the history of baseball in Binghamton, from the Crickets, to the Bingos, to the Triplets and the current day Double-A team, the Binghamton Mets. The book is full of amusing stories, including the day Ralph Terry strutted like a peacock in Cooperstown, the day Johnny Blanchard hung up the phone when talking with George Weiss, and the day the fiancé of Lefty Gomez flushed his engagement ring down a toilet!

Testimonials include:

Ralph Terry, star pitcher for the Yankees in the 1960's: "I was 18-years-old when I arrived in Binghamton or my first year in pro ball, with a duffel bag in one hand and a game of Scrabble(R) in the other. This is where it all began and I remember it fondly."

Steve Kraly, pitcher for the 1953 World Champion New York Yankees: "I am proud to have called the greater Binghamton area my full-time home since 1956, after I completed my second tour of duty with the Triplets. You'll travel along the historic crossroads of both Binghamton and baseball as you read this book and I trust that a smile will be your companion."

Author Biography

Jim Maggiore has been a resident of the Greater Binghamton Area since graduating from Binghamton University in 1978. His writings on baseball have previously appeared in "Baseball Weekly," "The Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin," and various editions of the "Binghamton Mets Baseball Program." Other baseball books written by Jim include (1) "Six More Wins: A Team, A Town, A Rebound and a Championship," which describes the 2014 Eastern League Championship Binghamton Mets team and uses the team as metaphor for the rising fortunes of the New York Mets and the city of Binghamton; and (2) "Spring Training with the Washington Nationals," which includes over 200 color photographs of the Nationals in action during spring training. Jim has been a diehard N.Y. Mets fan since his dad took him to see the Mets beat the Milwaukee Braves, 1-0, on a Charlie Smith single up the middle in September of 1965.

Michael J. McCann lives in Johnson City with his wife Susan and two sons, Ian and Shaun. He is a Johnson City firefighter during the day and baseball historian the rest of the time. This is his fourth book; previously he has co-authored "Hockey in Broome County," "Baseball in Broome County," and "The History of the Johnson City Fire Department." One of his earliest recollections of a game is the 1974 Hall of Fame game when his father took him on a bus trip to see the Atlanta Braves take on the Chicago White Sox. He remembers that Hank Aaron played left field for the Braves and Richie Allen wrote words in the infield dirt at first base.