The End of Baseball

Just as the exploits of the great players of the Negro Leagues have assumed the status of mythology, the Bill Veeck of the stories most of us have received secondhand has always seemed like a character from the imagination of a first rate novelist. Peter Schilling's fine book stirs all that wonderful, received folklore into a classic what-if tale. People always say baseball is a game where anything can happen, but there was a time when the most magical thing that might have happened, didn't; The End of Baseball is so engaging and convincing that it accomplishes something truly special: it makes you wish desperately it were true. -- Brad Zellar * The Rake *
With this debut, sportswriter Schilling has written one of the best baseball novels since Howard Frank Mosher's Waiting for Teddy Williams....This exciting, fast-paced story is a fine commentary on baseball lore, race relations, and American sentiment during World War II, and it will have the reader hanging on every pitch, wondering how Veeck and his players will overcome racial discrimination to prove they can play in the major leagues. * Publishers Weekly *
Peter Schilling's historical baseball novel is a blast. Like a Satchel Paige flutter ball, it amuses and beguiles with every sharp turn. It's perfect for baseball lovers, but it will entertain anyone who loves a good story. Filled with wonderful characters and lively writing, The End of Baseball is the best baseball novel I've read in years. -- Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season
The End of Baseball reminded me of the books on the shelf at my grandfather's house. Schilling captures the period beautifully. A wonderful story. -- Jim Bouton, author of Ball Four and Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark
The End of Baseball captures the mood and feel of a time like no other baseball novel I have ever read. You are hooked quickly and for the duration. It reminds me of the thrill I got when I first read E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime. -- Paul Dickson, author of The Bonus Army, An American Epic and The Hidden Language of Baseball
I always wished I could have spent time in the Negro Leagues, and I always wanted to hang out with Bill Veeck. In Peter Schilling's work of inventive history, The End of Baseball, I was allowed to do both, and I thank him for that. If you ever wondered what might have happened if Veeck had succeeded in an attempt to buy the A's and fill the roster with Negro League stars, here's a chance to find out. Enjoy the journey. -- Peter Golenbock, author of Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Dynasty: the New York Yankees, 1949-1964
Peter Schilling takes one of the great 'what-might-have-been' episodes in baseball history and brings it to life. This is the best baseball novel I've read about this era since Mark Winegartner's Veracruz Blues. A fine achievement. -- Brad Snyder, author of A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports (Viking Oct. 2006) and Beyond th
In the ultimate 'woulda-coulda-shoulda' story, the vaunted color line is no match for Veeck's showmanship and unquenchable spirit. -- Wes Lukowsky * Booklist *
No baseball season would be complete without at least one terrific work of fiction, and Publishers Weekly thinks this is it: 'an exciting, fast-paced story' that is 'a fine commentary on baseball lore, race relations and American sentiment during World War II.' Schilling makes the legendary promoter Bill Veeck the star of his novel, a man so intent on winning a pennant that he recruits stars from the Negro League to play on his club in 1944. It isn't the way things were but the way they should have been. * Columbus Dispatch *
The author is an experienced sports journalist who has written a delightful historical novel about his favorite sport. It is about the team that 'almost was' in an extraordinary baseball season of 1944. The protagonist is Bill Veeck, a maverick promoter, who buys the Philadelphia Athletics. Because he is hungry to win a pennant, Veeck drops the white players and secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues. The result is the greatest team ever to play the game. Schilling recounts behind-the-scenes stories that include real-life columnist Walter Winchell, J. Edgar Hoover, and such players as Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Martin Dihigo, Cool 'Papa' Bell, Willie Wells and Buck Leonard. * Desert Morning News, (Salt Lake City) *
To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, some baseball novels see things as they are and ask why; Pete Schilling Jr.'s brilliantly conceived The End of Baseball sees things that weren't and imagines what could have been. Starting from an unconfirmed baseball legend—that maverick baseball owner Bill Veeck once tried to buy the Philadelphia A's and roster them with Negro League stars—Schilling re-imagines post-1944 America in the wake of an event infinitely more convulsive than Jackie Robinson's signing by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and J. Edgar Hoover (who think Veeck is a Communist) are not happy, and the city of Philadelphia and, eventually, all of America are changed forever by the entry of Negro League stars Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Cuban great Martin Dihigo into the national spotlight. The best baseball novel so far this century. -- Allen Barra * Baltimore Sun *
Of all sports, rivalled perhaps only by boxing, baseball has the strongest links with literature. Philip Roth, Mark Harris, Bernard Malamud and W. P. Kinsella are among the game's literati. They're joined by Peter Schilling Jr. in The End of Baseball (Ivan R. Dee, 337 pages, $25), set in the war year of 1944, as Bill Veeck (a real and important figure), in the face of opposition from the likes of commie-in-every-closet FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, raids the Negro Leagues for stars like JoshGibson and Satchell Paige. * Toronto Globe and Mail *
No, we're not talking about the Mets collapse last year. In Schilling's novel, set in the 1944 season, baseball maverick Bill Veeck buys the Philadelphia Athletics and, determined to field the best team, recruits ballplayers from the Negro Leagues for his roster (he reportedly considered doing this in real life). Of course, the establishment—the cranky commissioner Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis and even J. Edgar Hoover—is aghast. But readers are sure to cheer both Veeck and players such as Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige in this alternate take on baseball history. * New York Post *
Mainly, as somebody in baseball puts it, The End of Baseball sails straight down central. As somebody else in baseball used to say, it's a winner. -- Harry Levins * St. Louis Post-Dispatch *
The End of Baseball, when on the field, is one of those books where pages can flip in wonderful three or four pages chunks. Schilling has a great talent for description of in-game storytelling, and also for getting inside both the respective heads of his players and the mood of the dugout. * City Pages *
The End of Baseball is more than a simple story; it also serves as a reminder of the consequences of indulging, rather than battling against the darker natures that exist within us all…. Peter Schilling Jr. deserves the highest of marks for creating a fictitious history that feels like the genuine article. -- John Brattain * Hardball Times *
Schilling offers a compassionate, enjoyable re-imaging of the early days of baseball…. A terrific tale. * Kirkus *
The detail paid to each character, making each unique, and making many both hero and villain, will mesmerize any reader. -- Chrissie Bonnes * Minnesota Game Day *
Peter Schilling Jr.…writes a gripping novel that diehard fans and those in search of a great story alike will love. * Associated Content *
Schilling’s talent in this novel is the voice he gives the players–they are believable… Schilling succeeds mightily. * Tampa Tribune *
Even if you're not a lover of baseball, this book is still a bracing reminder of how people were mistreated just for the color of their skin yet still chose to play a game that brought them great joy….Schilling does a great job of taking the readers inside the skin and minds of the men who really wanted (and deserved) the respect of baseball fans around the world. -- Richard Kamins * Courant.Com *
The world of baseball during World War II provides the atmospheric background for this inspired debut novel that mingles fact and fantasy…Schilling's what-if tale brilliantly re-creates a bygone era. * Seattle Post-Intelligencer *
The End of Baseball is a hearty feast for the baseball glutton. Schilling has researched his subject well and has produced a historically water-tight tale, leaving the willing reader to ponder 'What if?' * Winston-Salem Journal *
Schilling hits a home run with his debut novel. * Baseball Book Review *
An imaginative, thought-provoking novel. * Frommer's Book Reviews *
Offers a glimpse into a world that could have been, and fuels the debate about Bill Veeck and the integration of baseball. -- William E. Aiken * NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture *