This is a baseball book. It is for the common fan and aficionados. It has a central figure, a unique player and record-setting slugger named Fred “Cy” Williams. From Notre Dame University and with a professional degree in Architecture, we follow Cy’s path to the “Big Leagues,” nineteen years with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. This book explains how Major League Baseball (MLB) is different today compared to the 1910s and 1920s, two of the most exciting and “gold-gilded” decades of baseball.

It is about the biggest change ever created in The Game…not a rule change…when in 1920 MLB went from using a dead ball to a live ball in games. It was a manufacturing change. The new ball traveled faster and farther. Early on it was called the “rabbit ball.”

Visually, you will see the impact of the change through the use of graphs, from the Dead Ball Era to the Live Ball Era. Cy’s long career from 1912 to 1930 owned a unique balance of years in each era, with only one other position player nearing his years and balance. You will see how MLB changed through Cy’s statistics as well as through other players of the day.

To suggest that Cy Williams is the most unique slugger in MLB history may seem like a strange claim. After reading the book, you will have a better understanding of why the claim has validity. It is based on the combination of how many years he played in both eras, on what he accomplished in setting MLB and National League (NL) home run records and other unique records, on his speed in the outfield, on how he got into the game, on the handicap he faced, and on what he gave to the game regarding ethics and dedication. Some things centerfielder Cy accomplished back then are remarkable even today.

A LOOK AT MLB’S PRESENT AND FUTURE. EDITORIAL OPINIONS TO ADD TO BASEBALL’S CONVERSATIONAL FABRIC.

An addendum section of the book does not focus on Cy. It does, at times, focus on how the creation of Cy’s times, stats, and history find change in today’s game and rules. What is for the good? What changes suffer, and for what genuine purpose?

For example, has MLB lost its connection to its own history for the sake of trying to keep up with the present…which is the attraction of either more money by the clubs or something different to write or talk about as a signature of the current generation of writers and speakers? What will the next generation bring?

The author espouses changes…even radical changes. He rejects rule changes that would make historical aspects and conversations meaningless going forward.

Included are thoughts that should lead to introspection, respectful analysis and debate among the throngs of The Game’s armchair philosophers.