Author examines Lefty O’Doul’s baseball career in new book
Brooklyn BookBeat
From San Francisco to the Ginza in Tokyo, “Lefty O’Doul: Baseball’s Forgotten Ambassador” (University of Nebraska Press) recounts the untold story of one of baseball’s greatest hitters, most colorful characters and the unofficial father of professional baseball in Japan.
Lefty O’Doul (1897-1969) began his career on the sandlots of San Francisco and was drafted by the Yankees as a pitcher. Hew would retire with the fourth-highest lifetime batting average in Major League history — but not before establishing the game in Japan, something General Douglas MacArthur declared one of the greatest diplomatic efforts in U.S. History.
“The life of Lefty O’Doul was filled with joy, enthusiasm and accomplishment, and no one has told his story better than Dennis Snelling,” said Dick Beverage, secretary-treasurer for the Association of Professional Ballplayers of America and president of the Pacific Coast League Historical society. “This wonderful book fully describes the many facets of Lefty’s personality.”