About this item
Mike Piazza’s autobiography—the candid story of the greatest hitting catcher in the history of baseball, from his inauspicious draft selection to his Hall of Fame-worthy achievements and the unusual controversies that marked his career.Mike Piazza was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 62nd round of the 1988 baseball draft as a “courtesy pick.” The Dodgers never expected him to play for them—or anyone else. Mike had other ideas. Overcoming his detractors, he became the National League rookie of the year in 1993, broke the record for season batting average by a catcher, holds the record for career home runs at his position, and was selected as an All Star twelve times. Mike was groomed for baseball success by his ambitious, self-made father in Pennsylvania, a classic father-son American-dream story.
About the Author
Lonnie Wheeler is a former journalist and the author of non-fiction books. His latest, Pitch by Pitch, marks his third collaboration with baseball great Bob Gibson. Released on October 6, 2015, by Flatiron Books, it tracks Gibson's historic performance in Game One of the 1968 World Series. Pitch by Pitch closely follows Intangiball, which was released on August 11, 2015. Published by Simon & Schuster, it champions the value of intangibles in relation to baseball players and teams. For Intangiball, Wheeler was a winner of the 2016 SABR Baseball Research Award.A native of St. Louis, Wheeler moved to Kirksville, Missouri, during his high school years, and there began his newspaper career. As a journalism student at the University of Missouri (class of 1974) , he interned in the sports departments of the Cincinnati Enquirer and Miami Herald. He returned to the Enquirer in 1977 and left in 1984 to pursue freelance writing. Wheeler later wrote a sports column for the Cincinnati Post. His first book, The Cincinnati Game, was co-authored by John Baskin and published by Orange Frazer Press in 1988. The same year saw the release of Bleachers, for which Wheeler spent a season watching ballgames from the bleachers of Wrigley Field. In 1991, he collaborated on Hank Aaron's autobiography, I Had A Hammer, which reached No. 5 on the New York Times bestseller list. He also assisted on the autobiographies of Gibson (Stranger to the Game) and Mike Piazza (Long Shot) , another Times bestseller; and joined Gibson and Reggie Jackson to write Sixty Feet, Six Inches. Wheeler's other collaborations include the memoirs of former Detroit mayor Coleman Young (Hard Stuff) and Omega Boys Club founder Joe Marshall (Street Soldier) . In 1998, he described the culture of Kentucky basketball in Blue Yonder. Lonnie and his wife, Martie, live in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they raised three children: Abby, Clark, and Emily.
