A Time for Reflection: The Parallel Legacies of Baseball Icons Willie McCovey and Billy Williams

(Hardback)

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A fascinating look back at the incredible lives and careers of baseball Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Billy Williams.

Professional baseball has featured a bevy of superstars over the past century and a half, but only a few of them have impacted their sport and cities as deeply as Willie McCovey and Billy Williams. Born just a handful of miles apart in 1938, they grew up in and around one of the sports true cradles, Mobile, Alabama, on their way to producing two iconic careers in Major League Baseball.

In A Time for Reflection: The Parallel Legacies of Baseball Icons Willie McCovey and Billy Williams, Jason Cannon examines these two legends of the game. Overcoming the heinous racism of the Jim Crow South as part of the second generation of African American major leaguers who followed in the footsteps of Jackie Robinson, they became two of baseballs all-time greatest players. Off the field, they took impactful stands for racial progress that continue to resonate today. Their personal resolve, leadership in the clubhouse, and dedication to their baseball communities endeared them to teammates and fans alike.

Featuring original interviews with family members, friends, teammates, and Williams himself, A Time for Reflection brings to life their monumental accomplishments on the diamond, while also detailing how McCovey and Williams grew into pillars of San Francisco and Chicago and inspired future generations of ballplayers.

Reviews

Cannons book is a fabulous examination of the invaluable legacies of Williams and McCovey to professional baseball, both on the field as ballplayers and later off the field to assist in the development of a more diverse baseball industry. * Bevis Baseball Research *
Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants and Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs share much in common. They grew up a few miles from each another in Mobile, Alabama, they were two of the most prolific left-handed power hitters in baseball, they are both in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and they both have statues commemorating their greatness outside of their respective stadiums. Cannon weaves the narratives of their lives from their births in 1938 through their decades-long baseball careers in the sixties and seventies and into retirement. McCovey and Williams were children when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, but they had to endure discrimination throughout their careers, and in their later years they helped mold young players on and off the diamond. Through interviews with McCovey's family and Williams himself, this thoroughly research dual biography will have regional appeal to Giants and Cubs baseball fans and a wider appeal to readers who want an insider's look at the lives of two great athletes who prospered despite all of the hurdles placed in front of them. * Booklist *
Cannon does a remarkable job of researching and putting into words the numerous achievements of McCovey and Williams . . . Willie McCovey and Billy Williams were humble and kind men whose stories are wonderfully told in this exceptional biography. * The Book Reporter *
Jason Cannons decision to emphasize the importance of placeMobile, Alabamain his portrait of baseball legends Willie McCovey and Billy Williams is inspired. The shared experience of both McCovey and Williamstwo aspiring ballplayers, both born in 1938, growing up in the same town in the Jim Crow southis both intriguing and illuminating. Cannon traces their struggles as young black players to their development as great Hall of Famers and as ambassadors of the their sport. A great contribution to the discussion of baseball, history and culture. -- Robert F. Garratt, author of Home Team: the Turbulent History of the San Francisco Giants and Jazz Age Giant: Charles A. Stoneham and New York Baseball in the Roaring Twenties
Beautifully written and lovingly told, Jason Cannons dual biography of Willie McCovey and Billy Williams reminds us that beyond the boxscores, its the stories that matter most when it comes to baseball. A Time for Reflection is a narrative treasure. -- Mitchell Nathanson, author of Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original
Astute baseball fans know that several great players, including five members of the Hall of Fame, were born and raised in and around Mobile, Alabama. A Time for Reflection is an insightful dual biography of two of these stars, Willie McCovey and Billy Williams. Supported by incisive research and buttressed by interviews with family members, friends, and former teammates, Jason Cannon has written a book that stands as a fine example of what baseball biography can be as both art and scholarship. -- Steven P. Gietschier, author of Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years

Author Bio

Jason Cannon is a teacher and writer. His first book, Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman behind the Chicago Cubs, won the 2023 Larry Ritter Award, and his articles have appeared in NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. He lives in Colorado.