(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – When he was a young baseball fan, author Zak Ford idolized players to the point of considering them god-like super heroes.
But even super heroes have to start somewhere. Ford’s new book, “Called Up: Ballplayers Remember Becoming Major Leaguers,” recalls the experiences of players who made their debuts in the bigs.
“It captures the feelings and emotions, the behind-the-scenes details, of that moment in which they kind of cross that threshold,” Ford, who lives in Sacramento, tells WBBM Newsradio’s Rick Gregg. “It’s just a very exciting time for these ballplayers.”
Among the dozens of ball players profiled in the book is Patrick Wisdom, an infielder with the Chicago Cubs. Wisdom was called up by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018 and had a shaky – though not disastrous – first day as a major-leaguer.
“One of the first plays that comes to him, he ends up bouncing it. He ends up with an error. He’s horrified. But he ends up coming through with one of the clutch hits later on in the game for the Cardinals, and obviously, he’s found some success now,” Ford says.
Ford's book shares more than 100 of those stories – some that played out in public and some that were private, such as players being called into the manager's office or suffering the welcoming pranks of teammates.
“All of these guys went through their ups and downs. They had to exhibit serious dedication and perseverance to get where they were, just at different levels,” the author says.
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