Mike Sowell is a sports historian and the author of three

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

books, including '' The Pitch That Killed'' about

Ray Chapman Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player. He spent his entire career as a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians of the American League. Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by pitch ...

and

Carl Mays Carl William Mays (November 12, 1891 – April 4, 1971) was an American baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. During his career, he won over 200 games, 27 in 1921 alone, and was a member of four Wo ...

. Named a Notable Book of the Year by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 1989, and winner of the

CASEY Award The Casey Award (stylized as CASEY) is an annual literary award that has been given to the best baseball book of the year since 1983. The award was created by Mike Shannon and W. J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of '' Spitball: The Literary B ...

for best baseball book of 1989, ''The Pitch That Killed'' tells the story of the only on-field fatality in major league baseball history, when the Yankees' Mays beaned the Indians' Chapman in the final weeks of the 1920

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pennant race.Susan Jacoby
"Death on the Mound"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', September 17, 1989. Sowell also wrote about baseball tragedies in his other books. ''One Pitch Away'', about the 1986 baseball postseason and the key players involved, featured

Donnie Moore Donnie Ray Moore (February 13, 1954 – July 18, 1989) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Chicago Cubs (1975, 1977–1979), St. Louis Cardinals (1980), Milwaukee Brewers (1981), Atlanta Braves (1982� ...

, the Angels pitcher whose suicide two years later was linked to his role in the 1986 ALCS, and

Bill Buckner William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston R ...

, whose 20-year career was tainted by missing a ground ball in Game 6 of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. Sowell's 1992 book ''July 2, 1903'' explored the mysterious death of Hall-of-Famer

Ed Delahanty Edward James Delahanty (October 30, 1867 – July 2, 1903), nicknamed "Big Ed", was an American professional baseball player, who spent his Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Philadelphia Quakers (NL), Philadelphia Quakers, Clev ...

, who died after being swept over

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

. In addition to his books and articles on baseball history, Sowell wrote the text for ''Cardtoons'', a set of baseball parody cards that led to a lawsuit with the

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is the labor union representing all current Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held ...

. In ''Cardtoons v. MLBPA'', the court ruled in 1996 that the cards parodying the players and their greed were protected by the First Amendment. Sowell, a former sportswriter for the ''

Tulsa Tribune The ''Tulsa Tribune'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1919 to 1992. Owned and run by three generations of the Jones family, the ''Tribune'' closed in 1992 after the termination of its joint operating agreement ...

'', is now a journalism professor at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2007."10 journalists due honors"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'', March 4, 2007.

References

External links

Professor Bios

School of Journalism and Broadcasting: Sports Media (accessed March 17, 2010). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sowell, Mike Living people Oklahoma State University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Sportswriters from Oklahoma