HUNTSVILLE — The names of Jose Canseco, Prince Fielder and Don Mincher stand out in Huntsville baseball lore.
But, the names of Gabby Street, “Hub” Myhand and “Ducky” Holmes are also at the top of the list of the city’s contributions to the American Pastime.
And writer Mark McCarter brings the Rocket City’s storied baseball history to light with the passion of a true connoisseur of the sport in his latest book, “Baseball in Huntsville.”
This is the third of McCarter’s “baseball trilogy,” following “Never a Bad Game: 50 Years of the Southern League” and “Pandamonium: Inside Pro Baseball’s Return to the Rocket City.”
In “Baseball in Huntsville,” McCarter chronicles the historic mill teams of the 1930s, the rise and fall of the Huntsville Stars, the new kids on the block in Madison, and a funeral home director and his connection with the Negro Leagues and helping integrate the town.
Who knew that Huntsville and Decatur had a heated baseball rivalry?
McCarter spells out the feud in July 1904: “In a July editorial, the Huntsville Daily Mercury wrote of Decatur’s ‘hoodlums and the rough element …’”
“To which Decatur Mayor H.A. Skeggs replied in an editorial: ‘The Twin-Cities, ordinarily, are as calm and peaceful as the beautiful Tennessee on a June day; but when Huntsville comes to town with its baseball team, there is a danger of ‘something doing.’”
The book also includes a chapter on Huntsville’s contributions to the Major Leagues – “Gabby Street to Craig Kimbrell. A long list of Huntsville-born baseball stars” – and the city’s infamous link to baseball’s steroids era.
McCarter’s style as an award-winning journalist shines through in this telling of the boys of summer, making it perfect reading for the pool, the beach, or in a favorite chair.
“Baseball in Huntsville” is a must-read for fans of the sport – no matter where they’re from or where they live.
“Baseball in Huntsville” is on sale June 5.
Title: “Baseball in Huntsville”
Author: Mark McCarter
Publisher: The History Press
Genre: Sports
Rating: 5 stars — A Must Read
