Wayne Stewart

UPDATE--2024 NOTE: My latest book is a re-issue of a book on the 1960 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, out now on Sunbury Press. It's called 1960: When the Pittsburgh Pirates Had Them All the Way. Coming out in December (pre-order it any time now) is I Love Baseball and it's about all the reasons we love the game, from the fantastic records, trivia, and oddities to the great lines spoken and written about the game from the media, celebrities, etc. In Feb. of 2025 Talking Baseball With Major League Stars will be out. It includes insights from the many stars (including about 50 Hall of Famers) that I've interviewed dating back to around 1980. It's a great read for those who want the inside story on a ton of topics from who players see as the greatest ever to their thoughts on trades, fans, strategy, and on and on. 2023 NOTE: As a quick update to what follows-- this is just a quick note to let you know you can now buy my latest book (released November 2023): The Basketball Book of Why, and it explores many topics of basketball (like my Football Book of Why did) from how the sport began to oddities, record holders, dynasties, rules, and much more. As for my bio and my writing--First of all, let me say that two of the books which I am extremely proud of are: Wits, Flakes, and Clowns and 1960: When the Pittsburgh Pirates Had Them All the Way (mid-February 2020). Both feature tons of exclusive interviews done over a period of many, many years. A few of the players I spoke with include Cy Young winner Vern Law, Elroy Face, Ralph Terry, Bobby Richardson, Carl Erskine, Ken Griffey Sr., MVP Dick Groat, Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry, and Bob Gibson. The book on 1960 is available only on Amazon. The 1960 Pirates book celebrates the 60th anniversary of the most lopsided and wildest World Series ever. It was endorsed by Law and my high school baseball teammate, Ken Griffey, Sr. Wits is a look at the humor of the game through profiles of some of the zaniest, wittiest, and flakiest players ever from Stengel to Piersall and from Drabowsky and Blyleven, and to active players such as Bryce Harper. This book is endorsed by Carl Erskine, Law, and Griffey Sr. The two books mentioned above are among the best books I've ever written. In fact, I honestly believe the Wits book on colorful characters is among the funniest books on baseball ever! I also loved writing Stan the Man: The Life and Times of Stan Musial. I grew up in the same hometown as he did so it was a joy writing that book. The updated, second edition of Name That Ballplayer can be purchased now, too. It challenges readers to identify baseball players from clues provided, and its rules allow readers to role play as a player trying to hit a homer--that is, guess the answer on the first of three clues. More on that in the book itself, but it's a fun way to challenge yourself and test your trivia I.Q. By the way, new, updated editions of You're the Umpire, You're the Ref (football), You're the Basketball Ref, and America's Football Factory (featuring six Hall of Fame quarterbacks all from the Pittsburgh area--Unitas, Montana, Namath, et al) are also out now. I've been fortunate enough to write about sports since 1978, and have had the opportunity to interview such legends as Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr., Rickey Henderson, Joe Montana, Larry Bird, and many more. In fact, being from Donora, Pa. (as mentioned, I was a classmate and baseball teammate of Griffey Sr) helped me when I wrote books such as Fathers, Sons, and Baseball which included material about Griffey AND when I wrote a biography of Stan Musial, also, of course, from Donora. Being from the Pittsburgh area helped me when I wrote America's Football Factory as I wrote about six Hall of Fame QBs from that area and other western Pennsylvania greats. . I also co-wrote All the Moves That I Have with NFL Hall of Famer Raymond Berry. In all, I've written 35 books counting books exclusive to Amazon (Baseball's Oddities, Behind the Scenes with the Cleveland Indians, and Great Tales of Baseball) as well as the previously mentioned book on the '60 Pirates and the one on colorful characters-- Wits, Flakes, and Clowns. That book is packed with hilarious quotes and anecdotes from some funny, crazy guys. It may be my favorite book ever, ranking up there with my Stan the Man, my book on Raymond Berry, along with Fathers, Sons, and Baseball and the new one on the '60 Pirates. Rowman & Littlefield published two companion books in 2017 and 2018: Remembering the Stars of the NFL Glory Years and Remembering the Greatest Coaches and Games of the NFL Glory Years. They include great interviews with many huge stars of the 1950s and 1960s including Don Maynard, Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, David Robinson, Mel Renfro, Paul Warfield, Floyd Little and many others. Not long ago, as mentioned, one of my books with Skyhorse Publishing came out as an updated, new and revised edition-- You're the Basketball Ref and, also as mentioned there are also new editions of You're the Umpire and Name That Ballplayer. These books present readers with tons of information such as situations taken from real games and challenge them to make the right call--or identify the ballplayer in question. If you love trivia, sports humor, oddities, and great tales of sports, you might want to check out my blog: waynestewartonsports.blog and maybe become a follower.