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Whatever Happened to Super Joe?

Catching Up With 45 Good Old Guys from the Bad Old Days of the Cleveland Indians

by Russell Schneider

• Format: Softcover, 224 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inches
• Illustrations: 45 black-and-white photographs
• ISBN: 978-1-59851-027-0
• Price: $14.95

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Description

From the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s, the Cleveland Indians fielded team after team that just couldn't win. Those forty long years, before the opening of Jacobs Field and the “era of champions,” are remembered by many as the “bad old days.”

Yet each of those lousy teams had its share of pretty good guys, likeable and colorful young men who earned a spot in fans' hearts, if not the Hall of Fame.

Guys like “Super Joe” Charboneau, whose Rookie of the Year season inspired a nickname, a book, and a theme song, but whose career flamed out fast. Or Gomer Hodge, the former farm boy who went 4-for-4 in his first plate appearances with the Tribe and proudly announced that he had a 4.000 batting average.

Veteran sportswriter Russell Schneider caught up with 45 former Indians players who played in Cleveland during the “bad old days” and found out what they think now about their playing days and their lives after baseball.

There's good-fielding shortstop Duane Kuiper, who was satisfied hitting just one home run in eight seasons because, he said, “Any more than that and people start expecting them.” And former knuckleball pitcher Tom Candiotti, who never pitched a no-hitter but did throw a perfect game—as a pro bowler.

“Immortal” Joe Azcue tried hard to live up to his early nickname but whose batting average proved him merely human. And shortstop Frank Duffy considered the Indians of the mid-'70s “just like a happy family” compared to what he found when he was traded to the Boston Red Sox.

Sometimes nostalgic, sometimes tinged with disappointment, often humorous and insightful, their stories will take Tribe fans back to an age before multi-million dollar superstars, when the players were in it for the love of the game.

Reviews

The subtitle is beautiful: Catching Up With 45 Good Old Guys from the Bad Old Days of the Cleveland Indians. I'm just going to drop a few names: Gomer Hodge, Joe Charboneau, Wayne Garland, Joe Azcue, Fred Whitfield and Frank Duffy. If those names mean something to you, so will this book. Schneider covered many of these players when he was on the beat for the Plain Dealer. He knew them back in the day, and he brings up to date on what they are doing. It's an easy read, and should be irresistible to Tribe fans. — Terry Pluto, Direct from Pluto

A treat for Indians fans. — WKYC TV3

About Russell Schneider

Russell Schneider was a sportswriter and columnist for the Plain Dealer for 32 years. He covered the Indians daily from 1964 through 1977. He has written one book on the Cleveland Browns and 12 books about baseball and the Indians, including The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia, Lou Boudreau: Covering All the Bases, and The Glorious Indian Summer of 1995, and he is a lifelong fan of the team. He lives in Seven Hills, Ohio. More About Russell Schneider

Contains References to:

Brook Jacoby, Charlie Spikes, Chris Chambliss, Cleveland Indians, Cory Snyder, Dick Tidrow, Doc Edwards, Doug Jones, Duane Kuiper, Eddie Leon, Frank Duffy, Fred Whitfield, Gomer Hodge, James Mudcat Grant, Joe Azcue, Joe Charboneau, Larry Brown, Municipal Stadium, Ray Narleski, Rick Waits, Steve Mingori, Tom Candiotti,

If you like Whatever Happened to Super Joe?, then you should try:

• Omar! by Omar Vizquel
• Heroes, Scamps, and Good Guys by Bob Dolgan
• Dealing (hc) by Terry Pluto