Tony Lazzeri: A Baseball Biography

Paul Votano

Sep. 2015 · McFarland

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Baseball player Tony Lazzeri was the first great Italian-American sports superstar. He was known for his excellent glove, strong throwing arm and good speed, as well as his honesty, integrity and support of his teammates. This member of the 1927 Murderers' Row of the New York Yankees batted sixth behind Earl Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Bob Meusel. The major league's first power-hitting second baseman, he batted over .300 five times and drove in over 100 runs in seven seasons. He was the Yankees regular second baseman for twelve consecutive seasons and helped them win six pennants and five world championships. Chosen to play in the first All-Star Game in 1933, he made the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Researched from primary sources as well as interviews with his peers, this biography covers Lazzeri's life from his birth in San Francisco to Italian immigrants; his harsh, poverty-stricken childhood, and struggles with epilepsy (though he never suffered an attack while playing baseball); through every moment of his impressive career (as well as the time he struck out against Grover Cleveland Alexander in Game Seven of the 1926 World Series); ending with his death at age 42 of a heart attack. Lazzeri's batting record is included as an appendix and the work is illustrated with both private and public photographs.

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Paul Votano is also the author of Stand and Deliver: A History of Pinch-Hitting (2003) and Late and Close: A History of Relief Pitching (2002). He lives in LaGrangeville, New York where he operates his own public relations agency.