The Gilded Diamond - Zane Grey on Baseball

The Gilded Diamond - Zane Grey on Baseball discusses a part of Zane Grey's life that is not normally known. Grey was an outstanding baseball player, on semi-professional baseball teams touring Ohio, playing at the University of Pennsyvlania on a baseball scholarship, and being offered a position on the major league baseball team, the Boston Braves (who eventually became the Atlanta Braves). Grey also wrote 3 baseball books based on his experiences playing baseball - these books are true collector's items. The Gilded Diamond provides a history of Grey's baseball playing days, essays by leading experts on Grey and on baseball, and several excerpts from Grey's baseball books. Grey played baseball before 1900 and was an outstanding pitcher, having mastered a rarely seen pitch at that time, known as the curve ball. Unfortunately, rules changes caused the pitcher's mound to be moved back to 60 feet 6 inches from home plate from a shorter distance, and Grey was never able to readjust his curve ball to the new distance. Fortunately, Grey chose his writing career over a baseball career, and became one of the most popular, if not the most popular, author of the 1900s. If the distance from the pitching mound to home plate had not changed, we might not have ever experienced Zane Grey, the author! Read more