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Michael Keedy Counts Down the Top Ten Greatest World Series Catches
I’m always happy to promote books by our readers or contributors. So I’m pleased to announce that a new book by our outstanding contributor, Michael Keedy, is now available on Amazon: Michael Keedy Counts Down the Top Ten Greatest World Series Catches.
I know many of you are familiar with what a fine writer Michael is and have enjoyed reading his contributions to my Baseball History Comes Alive website. A while back, Michael started a series of essays highlighting what he considered the ten all-time greatest World Series catches. They were catches that were made, as Michael put it, “when everything was on the line!”
Since the essays were well received by the readers, we decided to compile them all into a single, self-published volume, and…voila!...Michael Keedy Counts Down the Top Ten Greatest World Series Catches was born, hot off the press! A nice added personal touch is that the essays are illustrated with artwork provided by Michael’s wife, Susan Letz-Keedy.
I was very happy to serve as the Editor for the project and wrote the Introduction. The Preface was written by another of our outstanding contributors, Bill Schaefer. So, as you can see, it’s basically an “inside, family job,” and we’re all pleased with the result! (I’m sure Michael would be happy to send autographed copies. You can contact him at this address: MichaelKeedy7@gmail.com)
To give you a flavor for the book, here are a few excerpts from my Introduction:
One day, about three years ago, while perusing some of the comments left by readers, I noticed some rather clever remarks that caught my attention. They were written by a new reader named Michael Keedy. I soon realized that his comments were more than just clever. He possessed a witty writing style—loaded with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor—which I found to be quite engaging. As is my custom, I soon asked Michael if he’d be interested in submitting a guest essay. No surprise, Michael readily took me up on the offer.
This was the start of an ongoing three-year correspondence between us covering many topics and filled with plenty of good-natured back-and-forth repartee.
A while back, Michael contacted me expressing an interest in writing about Bobby Richardson and his historic grab of the hot smash off the bat of Willie McCovey that ended the 1962 World Series. I thought it sounded like a good idea, and so I gave him the okay to proceed. As expected, when the essay was posted, it was well received by the readers. I then suggested to him that perhaps an ongoing series of essays counting down his top ten greatest World Series catches might also go over well. Michael liked the idea and decided to run with it. He had the freedom to highlight any catches he chose from any World Series. With his unique writing style, I knew the idea would go over well with my readers. I was right—it soon proved to be a big hit and, as expected, generated lots of impassioned responses.
Thus was the genesis of this collection of essays that I’ve compiled into a single volume: Michael Keedy Counts Down The Top Ten Greatest World Series Catches. Make no mistake: All kidding aside, Michael is a gifted writer with a unique style that will hold your attention from the first essay to the last. I’m privileged to serve as the editor for this project.
As we all know, what constitutes a great catch is very subjective and we all have our own opinions and biases. As a lifelong Dodger fan, Michael certainly has his, but I’m convinced he tried to be as objective as possible as he compiled his list. The readers of my website have had a lot of fun with this, and whether or not we all agree or disagree with Michael’s selections or his rankings, we thank him for his efforts in creating a very entertaining series of essays.
As I’ve told Michael, when this book, his first, reaches the best-seller list, I’m taking credit for discovering him! My hope is that you’ll find it as entertaining and enjoyable as I have.
Gary Livacari
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