Diamond Duels - by John Nogowski (Paperback)

About the Book

Diamond Duels: Baseball's Greatest Matchups takes a magnifying glass to some of the game's most entertaining and historic battles between hitters and pitchers.

Book Synopsis

In Diamond Duels: Baseball's Greatest Matchups, we take a magnifying glass to some of the game's most entertaining and historic battles between hitters and pitchers, played out over breezy spring evenings, hot summer afternoons, and chilly fall evenings as the long, rumbling baseball season finally winds down. Then we look closer.

As a sport with such a rich and diverse history, baseball offers us a long and fascinating recounting of so many of those dramatic matchups-- if you know where to look. There are many untold stories inside the box scores; Duke Snider slamming 19 home runs off Robin Roberts, who must have groaned every time he saw No. 4 at the plate; a starry-eyed National League star Dizzy Dean finally getting to pitch to American League folk hero Babe Ruth, winding down his career with the Boston Braves; Yankees manager Casey Stengel deciding not to start left-handed ace Whitey Ford in some key moments throughout Ford's Hall of Fame career; Albert Pujols doing his best to upset those careful pregame pitching strategy sessions by going out and swatting a record 154 of his 703 career blasts in his very first at-bat of the game. Diamond Duels is a book for the old and the young baseball fan, those who want to know just a little bit more about those dramatic matchups between pitcher and hitter throughout the games of our lives as well as those who want to look back, find out something they hadn't thought of, enriching their everlasting baseball memories.

Review Quotes

"Diamond Duels: Baseball's Greatest Matchups is fun reading of pitchers and hitters from years ago who made the game so much fun. Now fans can enjoy the behind-the-scenes accounts of the duels that went on for so many seasons... Diamond Duels: Baseball's Greatest Matches is for those of us who know the names contained in the book and for newer fans to learn historical aspects of the game."

"[I]t is much more than statistics as Nogowski makes interesting observations about players and the oddities related to their careers, as well as the changing nature of baseball and how the changes impact player evaluation... If you are any of these "baseball bugs" then you will love this book. If you are a fan with some knowledge of the history of the game you will enjoy Nogowski's analysis and argue with his opinions."

"I've known John for years and I read the book and enjoyed it very much. I would recommend it to anybody that enjoys baseball the way it used to be. There's just a lot of great stuff in it. I'm so happy to be able to be a part of it. For a guy my age, this is something that's outa sight."

"Like following a great crime novel, Diamond Duels is exciting to read how the duels played out. Great job, John. Baseball people will love it."

"You'll be startled at some of the just unbelievable things that happened and that you'll see that all the great things that happened in baseball, went right along with what was happening in the country. It's a well-written book, for somebody who has the same kinds of interest in the game, they'll love it."

"Stats lead the way in this eclectic mix, but they're rarely imposing, instead offering unexpected insights into the game... A stats geek's delight!"

About the Author

John Nogowski is an award-winning sports writer and teaches AP Language, English and Journalism at Gadsden County High School in Havana, Florida. He is the author of Last Time Out: Big League Farewells of Baseball's Greats (Lyons Press, 2022). He lives in Tallahassee, FL.