Lost in the Sun ─ The Comebacks and Comedowns of Major League Ballplayers

Baseball players, like teams, have their ups and downs. Pitchers inexplicably lose their command of the strike zone, batters think themselves into deep slumps, and injuries, addiction, and poor decision-making can radically change the fortunes of either. It's in the response to such adversity that memorable stories are made. This book focuses both on players whose determination in the face of injury or private demons landed them back in the big leagues and stars who never recovered from their dramatic, unexpected falls. Profiled here are 14 players whose stories are among the most stirring in baseball history: Tony Conigliaro, Monte Stratton, Pete Rose, Bert Shepard, Eddie Waitkus, Mark Wohlers, Red Barney, Lou Brissie, Tommy John, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Steve Blass, Dave Dravecky, and Joe Jackson.

Now retired, G. Richard McKelvey was chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Deerfield Academy (Massachusetts) and longtime coach of the Deerfield baseball and basketball teams. He is the author of Mexican Raiders in the Major Leagues (2006), All Bat, No Glove (2004), For It's One, Two, Three, Four Strikes You're Out at the Owners' Ball Game (2001), The Bounce: Baseball Teams' Great Falls and Comebacks (2001), The MacPhails (2000) and Fisk's Homer, Willie's Catch and the Shot Heard Round the World (1998).