About this item

In 1910 auto magnate Hugh Chalmers offered an automobile to the baseball player with the highest batting average that season. What followed was a batting race unlike any before or since, between the greatest but most despised hitter, Detroit’s Ty Cobb, and the American League’s first superstar, Cleveland’s popular Napoleon Lajoie. The Chalmers Race captures the excitement of this strange contest—one that has yet to be resolved. The race came down to the last game of the season, igniting more interest among fans than the World Series and becoming a national obsession. Rick Huhn re-creates the drama that ensued when Cobb, thinking the prize safely his, skipped the last two games, and Lajoie suspiciously had eight hits in a doubleheader against the St.



About the Author

Rick Huhn

Rick Huhn writes about baseball, particularly the Deadball Era (1900-1919), from his home in Westerville, Ohio, where he resides with his wife Marcia. The retired attorney's current book is The Chalmers Race: Ty Cobb, Napoleon Lajoie, and the Controversial 1910 Batting Title That Became a National Obsession (Nebraska, 2014). His previous contributions to baseball history are The Sizzler: George Sisler, Baseball's Forgotten Great (Missouri, 2004) and Eddie Collins: A Baseball Biography (McFarland, 2008). The latter was a finalist for the 2008 Larry Ritter Award, a prize awarded annually by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) to the author of the year's best book about the Deadball Era.In addition to his full length books, Rick has contributed articles to baseball journals and historical magazines, as well as been interviewed on numerous radio and television shows. Recently the lifetime Cleveland Indians fan served as an associate editor for and contributed an article to Pitching to a Pennant: The 1954 Cleveland Indians (Nebraska, 2014).Rick is an active member of SABR. He is a founding member and one of the coordinators for the Hank Gowdy Columbus (OH) Chapter of the organization. He received his undergraduate degree from Ohio University (Athens) and his law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (Columbus). His law career spanned over 30 years and included an active litigation practice.Check out www.rickhuhn.com for more information about Rick and his writing.



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