Gehr Brown
Bill Ryczek has written seven books on sports history — including a trilogy on 19th century baseball, books on the Yankees and Mets during the 1960s — and two books on professional football during the 1960s. He was also the co-editor of two reference books on 19th century baseball, and has taught The History and Social Impact of Baseball at Quinnipiac University. His books have won numerous awards, and he is a two-time winner of the Nelson Ross Award for his books on professional football.
His latest book, which he will talk about this morning, has the working title, Baseball on the Brink, The Crisis of 1968. This book discusses the sorry state of baseball during the mid-and late 1960s, how it was threatened by professional football, and dogged by inept management and a mind-set that was stuck in the passive 1950s in the midst of a time when American society was violent, divided and becoming increasingly oriented toward the decade’s rebellious youth.
Anyone who writes about 19th century baseball and minor league football needs a day job, and Bill is a former banker who is a principal in a finance company in Middletown, CT.