Overview
Monte Irvin, a New York Giants star player who got his start in the Negro Leagues, pays homage to baseball's unsung heroes and long-forgotten stars by selecting the top five players at each position and the top five managers, owners, pioneers, or organizers from the Negro Leagues.
Author Biography
Monte Irvin is a former player in the Negro Leagues and a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He played in the major leagues for the New York Giants for eight seasons, helping them win two pennants. His finest season in the major leagues was 1951, when he led the National League in RBI and achieved the rare feat of stealing home in the World Series. Phil Pepe is the author of more than 40 books on sports, including collaborations with Yankees legends Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, and Whitey Ford. He is a former Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News and a former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Press Releases
                    Beginning play in the late 1800s and continuing until the early 1960s, the Negro Leagues (there were at least eight separate leagues, some lasting for just one season) were home to some of the best baseball players to ever take the field. However, many of those players and the feats they accomplished were lost in history because the media didn’t cover their games the same way they have covered Major League Baseball games.
Few and Chosen: Defining Negro Leagues Greatness by Monte Irvin with Phil Pepe seeks to remedy the unacceptable fact that fans may never know the best Negro Leagues players. A better source than Irvin couldn’t be possible for sharing the history of these players. Irvin was so good as a player that many teammates, opponents and coaches thought he should be the first player to break the color barrier, not Jackie Robinson. After proving himself as a great infield/outfield who could hit for power and for average in the Negro Leagues, Irvin joined the MLB in 1949, going to two World Series with the then-New York Giants. In 1973, he was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Many fans may not even know that some of the greatest players in MLB history got their start in the Negro Leagues: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Minnie Minoso, Roy Campanella, Elston Howard, Larry Doby and, of course, Satchel Paige. The greatest stories in Few and Chosen: Defining Negro Leagues Greatness are ones about players that don’t have the name recognition today that the crossover starts achieved like:
> Oscar Charleston played all three outfield positions AT THE SAME TIME
> Cool Papa Bell was so fast, he once scored from first on a sacrifice bunt
> Biz Mackey hit over .400 three times
> Oliver “The Ghost” Marcelle was known for his hot temper until getting part of his nose bitten off in a fight on the field
> Power-hitter Jud “Boojum” Wilson’s nickname came from the sound his hits made bouncing off the outfield wall
> In 1934, Josh Gibson is credited with hitting a home run out of Yankee Stadium
Few and Chosen: Defining Negro Leagues Greatness is like a history book that makes your jaw drop reading the accomplishments of these awe-inspiring athletes. At parts funny and other times poignant, these are stories that everyone should know and players no true fan should forget.
About the Authors
Monte Irvin played the majority of his Hall of Fame career in the Negro Leagues. However, he played an instrumental role during his eight seasons with the New York Giants, helping them win two pennants. Irvin started his professional baseball career in the Negro Leagues at the age of 17. He quickly developed into a power-hitting, smooth-fielding, base-stealing triple threat. His finest season in the major leagues was probably 1951, when he led the National League in RBI and achieved the rare feat of stealing home in the World Series.
Phil Pepe is the author of over 40 books on sports, including collaborations with Yankee legends Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin and Whitey Ford. This is his latest book in the ongoing series of Few and Chosen titles (Yankees with Whitey Ford, Cardinals with Tim McCarver, Red Sox with Johnny Pesky, Cubs with Ron Santo, Dodgers with Duke Snider, Giants with Bobby Thomson previously) created by Triumph Books, each is co-written by Pepe. Pepe was the Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News from 1968-1981 and is former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America.