The Whiz Kids - by Dennis Snelling (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Whiz Kids recounts the story of the Philadelphia Phillies, who ended decades of futility to win the National League pennant in the last game of the season in 1950, lost the World Series to the Yankees, but remain legendary in Philly and beyond.

Book Synopsis

Before the 1950 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies were infamous for a record-breaking lack of achievement that dated from their conception in 1883 through the 1940s. When twenty-eight-year-old Robert Carpenter Jr. took over in 1944, the Phillies had won only a single National League title in more than sixty years. For the next five years, Carpenter and the newly hired general manager, Herb Pennock, would overhaul the team's operations, building a farm system from scratch and spending a fortune on young talent to build a team that would gain immense popularity and finally bring a National League pennant in 1950.

Nicknamed the "Whiz Kids" because they had so many players under thirty, the team caught lightning in a bottle for one season. Although they lost the World Series to the New York Yankees, the team became legendary in Philadelphia and beyond. The Whiz Kids is about a team that shocked everyone by winning, and then shocked everyone by never winning again. It includes a cast of characters and unusual storylines: a first baseman targeted for murder by a woman he had never met; a young catcher from Nebraska, Richie Ashburn, who became a Hall of Fame center fielder and later voice of the team for nearly three decades; a left fielder who lived and played in the shadow of his legendary father, then inspired Ernest Hemingway with the most legendary swing of a bat in franchise history; and a thirty-three-year-old bespectacled relief pitcher who won the Most Valuable Player Award with an undertaker as his personal pitching coach. The team succeeded under the watchful eye of its young owner, whose father handed him the team, and a college professor manager, only to see it slowly crumble as the slowest in the National League to integrate.

The Whiz Kids recounts the history of a team that, though hand-built to be champions, fell short--yet remains legendary anyway.

Review Quotes

"Philly loved the Whiz Kids, and this book tells you why. Dennis Snelling tells their story in a fast-paced and insightful manner, using anecdote-filled prose that makes the players come alive in their amazing and improbable journey to the National League championship. Other books have been written about the Whiz Kids, but you won't know the team's full story until you read this one."--Robert D. Warrington, Philadelphia baseball historian and author

"The 'fuzzy-cheeked' Whiz Kids captured the imagination of the country with their run to the 1950 National League pennant. But, alas, the magic was gone after that season. Dennis Snelling's thorough research and smooth writing style bring the Whiz Kids to life for a new generation as he also explores why the team failed to continue its success. It's an entertaining and enlightening read about one of the most memorable yet most overlooked teams of the last century."--C. Paul Rogers III, baseball historian and coauthor, with Robin Roberts, of The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant

About the Author

Dennis Snelling is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the Pacific Coast League Historical Society. He is the author of Lefty O'Doul: Baseball's Forgotten Ambassador (Nebraska, 2017), Johnny Evers: A Baseball Life, and The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957.