Mike Sowell is a sports historian and the author of three

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

books, including '' The Pitch That Killed'' about

Ray Chapman Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player. He spent his entire career as a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians. Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by pitcher Carl Mays and died 1 ...

and

Carl Mays Carl William Mays (November 12, 1891 – April 4, 1971) was an American baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. During his career, he won over 200 games, 27 in 1921 alone, and was a member of four Wor ...

. Named a Notable Book of the Year by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1989, and winner of the

CASEY Award The Casey Award has been given to the best baseball book of the year since 1983. The award was begun by Mike Shannon and W.J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of ''Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine''. Casey Award recipients *1983 – Er ...

for best baseball book of 1989, ''The Pitch That Killed'' tells the story of the only on-field fatality in major league baseball history, when the Yankees' Mays beaned the Indians' Chapman in the final weeks of the 1920

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pennant race.Susan Jacoby
"Death on the Mound"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', September 17, 1989. Sowell also wrote about baseball tragedies in his other books. ''One Pitch Away'', about the 1986 baseball postseason and the key players involved, featured

Donnie Moore Donnie Ray Moore (February 13, 1954 – July 18, 1989) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Chicago Cubs (1975, 1977–79), St. Louis Cardinals (1980), Milwaukee Brewers (1981), Atlanta Braves (1982–8 ...

, the Angels pitcher whose suicide two years later was linked to his role in the 1986 ALCS, and

Bill Buckner William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red ...

, whose 20-year career was tainted by missing a ground ball in Game 6 of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. ''July 2, 1903'' explored the mysterious death of Hall-of-Famer

Ed Delahanty Edward James Delahanty (October 30, 1867 – July 2, 1903), nicknamed "Big Ed", was an American professional baseball player, who spent his Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Philadelphia Quakers, Cleveland Infants, Philadelphia ...

, who died after being swept over

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

. In addition to his books and articles on baseball history, Sowell wrote the text for ''Cardtoons'', a set of baseball parody cards that led to a lawsuit with the

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club ...

. In ''Cardtoons v. MLBPA'', the court ruled in 1996 that the cards parodying the players and their greed were protected by the First Amendment. Sowell, a former sportswriter for the ''

Tulsa Tribune The ''Tulsa Tribune'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1919 to 1992. Owned and run by three generations of the Jones family, the ''Tribune'' closed in 1992 after the termination of its joint operating agreement w ...

'', is now a journalism professor at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2007."10 journalists due honors"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...

'', March 4, 2007.

References

External links

Professor Bios

School of Journalism and Broadcasting: Sports Media (accessed March 17, 2010). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sowell, Mike American sportswriters Living people Oklahoma State University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)