Today we’re honored to spend a few moments with baseball historian, author, editor of the greatest page in the history of facebook, and lifelong Chicago native Gary Livacari! In addition to contributing content to SABR‘s great BioProject and several books, Gary has just published the fantastic Memorable World Series Moments, a collection of great stories from various fall classics of yesteryear, going all the way back to 1909. In this book, Gary compiles all the interesting, humorous and strange tales from some of the greatest World Series’ and their heroes of past eras with a reverence and boyish fascination that we, as baseball junkies, can all relate to.
Gary, thanks for joining us today!
My pleasure!
So tell us, how did the idea of writing this new book come about?
I’ve always enjoyed writing, especially about baseball history, which is a subject I love and one that I happen to know a little bit about. I’ve been a SABR member for many years and have done numerous biographies for the SABR BioProject. For the longest time, I had been saying to myself it would be nice if I could combine my love of writing with my love of baseball history. I would often say to myself that “I have a book inside me somewhere, but I just don’t know what it is yet.”
That was the situation about four years ago when Ron Bolton asked me to join him as an editor of the Old-Time Baseball Photos facebook page. I started writing two or three short essays per week on different topics related to baseball history. It proved to be a great outlet for me, writing about subjects I enjoy. One of the continuing topics I wrote about over the years was “Famous World Series Incidents.” As time went on, I realized that I had written over 25 essays on different World Series’. Then the light bulb went off: Why not compile all these essays into a book? There was my book, sitting right in front of my nose the whole time! So that became the genesis of the book, Memorable World Series Moments.
Did you self-publish, or go through a publishing company?
I self-published. Amazon makes self-publishing, both e-book and paperback, very easy if you’re somewhat computer and tech-savvy. I had the entire project up and running and finished within six weeks, and it cost me very little. There’s a very limited audience for a niche subject matter like mine, so finding a conventional publisher for my idea would’ve been out of the question. So six weeks after coming up with the idea, I became a published author!
Why did you choose that particular publishing route so quickly?
One of my friends gave me the book Publish and Profit by Mike Koenigs. The theme of the book is how easy it is to self-publish, and how becoming a published author adds immensely to your credibility. It establishes you as an “expert” while opening up numerous doors (speaking engagements, etc.) Plus, it’s enormously self-gratifying. I suddenly had people asking me for my autograph which I humorously refer to as my “15 minutes of fame.”
What were the main differences in writing content for the book compared to your website, Baseball History Comes Alive! and the facebook page, Old-Time Baseball Photos?
Very little difference because my book is a compilation of short essays I had written and posted on my site and facebook page. I just did some editing prior to publishing the book. Plus I added to the book something I call Gary’s Handy-Dandy World Series Reference Guide. This is a compilation of World Series records and other bits of baseball trivia related to the World Series I had been collecting over the years. I thought this would be a good place to publish it.
Do you have a favorite chapter or story you wrote, and why?
My favorite chapters are the ones about famous World Series “goats” like Fred Snodgrass in 1912, Heine Zimmerman in 1917, Freddie Lindstrom in 1924, Ernie Lombardi in 1940, and Mickey Owen in 1941. For some reason, I had always been interested in these types of stories. Even as a little kid I had heard of these incidents, and always felt some sadness for these players who were blamed for losing the World Series. With just a little research, I found that almost invariably they were blamed unjustly. So I was glad to have the opportunity to write about them, hoping to do my little bit to set the historical record straight.
What was your biggest challenge and biggest reward from writing this book?
The biggest challenge was learning how to format the manuscript for publication completely by myself after I had finished the writing. I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of solving all the technical issues that arose, so that it would be truly self-published. I found a couple e-books on the internet on self-publishing, and, to my amazement, I was able to complete the project without too many stumbling blocks. The biggest reward has been the positive feedback I’ve received. Most of the people who bought the book seem to genuinely like it!
What is it about baseball history in general that you find so appealing and interesting?
That’s an interesting question. I’ve been a Cubs fan since 1955 when I was 5 years old. I have fond memories of sitting on my Grandfather’s lap watching Cubs Sunday doubleheaders on our old black-and-white TV after Sunday dinner. I’ve been a baseball fan ever since. Those were wonderful old days, so there’s definitely an element of nostalgia for the past locked into my psyche. I’ve often said if you ask any baseball fan how he became a fan, you’ll almost always find a story similar to mine.
There’s just something about the “old days” of baseball that I’ve always found fascinating. I wish I could find the words to express this fascination. I think it’s basically an intangible, almost subconscious thing. I know it’s there, but I can’t really explain it. I’ve always been an avid student of American history (I’m somewhat of an authority on the Civil War), so perhaps that has something to do with it. In studying baseball’s past you can’t help but learn a lot about America’s past. Baseball is just intertwined into America’s history. But it’s deeper than that, part of one’s “makeup.”
Any plans for publishing more books in the future?
You bet! Now that I’ve got the first one successfully under my belt, I’m constantly tossing ideas around in my mind. And I wouldn’t mind doing something with Mr. Kevin Trusty!
Neither would I! I think we could come up with a fascinating project(s) and look forward to seeing what’s on the horizon there. Thanks for your time Gary, and congratulations on a great book!
Thank you!
Buy Memorable World Series Moments here
Visit Baseball History Comes Alive!
Check out Old-Time Baseball Photos on Facebook!
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