The Curse of Rocky Colavito - by Terry Pluto (Paperback)

Number of Pages: 303
Genre: Sports + Recreation
Sub-Genre: Baseball
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Gray & Company Publishers
Age Range: Adult
Book theme: History
Author: Terry Pluto
Language: English

About the Book

Ever since the ill-fated trade of Rocky Colavito to Detroit in 1960, Indians fans have watched their team stumble through an extraordinary array of misdeeds, misfortunes, and outright tragedies. This series of funny, fond, and irreverent vignettes captures the frustration, anger--and undying optimism--of baseball's worst team. Photos.

Book Synopsis

"The year's funniest and most insightful baseball book." -- Chicago Tribune

A classic look at those years of baseball futility and frustration that make the rare taste of success so much sweeter.

Any team can have an off-decade. But three in a row? Only in Cleveland. No sports fans suffered more miserable teams for more seasons than Indians fans of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. Terry Pluto takes a fond and often humorous look at "the bad old days" of the Tribe and finds plenty of great stories for fans to commiserate with.

Other teams lose players to injuries; the Indians lost them to alcoholism (Sam McDowell), a nervous breakdown (Tony Horton), and the pro golf tour (Ken Harrelson). They even had to trade young Dennis Eckersley (a future Hall-of-Famer) because his wife fell in love with his best friend and teammate.

Pluto profiles the men who made the Indians what they were, for better or worse, including Gabe Paul, the underfunded and overmatched general manager; Herb Score, the much-loved master of malaprops in the broadcast booth; Andre Thornton, who weathered personal tragedies and stood as one of the few hitting stalwarts on some terrible teams; and Super Joe Charboneau, who blazed across the American League as a rookie but flamed out the following season.

Long-suffering Indians fans finally got an exciting, star-studded, winning team in the second half of the 1990s. But this book still stands as the definitive story of that generation of Tribe fans--and a great piece of sports history writing.

Review Quotes

Is there anyone in sports fandom who has suffered more than a fortysomething Cleveland Indians baseball fan? Pluto says no, no one has suffered more, and makes his case in this 30-year history of a woebegone franchise. As always, Pluto entertains with his eye for the absurd and an ear for the strange quote. This will have wide appeal beyond Cleveland as fans in other cities learn that times aren't as tough as they thought.--Wes Lukowsky "Booklist" (1/1/1994 12:00:00 AM)

Pluto captures three decades of astounding futility . . . Irresistible. Like a nostalgic shuffle through your old baseball cards.-- "Kirkus Reviews" (1/1/1994 12:00:00 AM)

The year's funniest and most insightful baseball book.--Jerry Klinkowitz "Chicago Tribune" (1/1/1994 12:00:00 AM)