Peeking through the Knothole Volume 2

Peeking through the Knothole, Volume 2: Baseball Biographies with Kansas Connections, features ten essays about thirteen baseball players whose lives or baseball careers included time in Kansas. A dual baseball biography critically examines the rumors of a young Dwight Eisenhower’s brief stint with a minor league club, playing under the pseudonym Wilson to protect his eligibility to participate in intercollegiate sports. This is paired with the story of the Wilson who played for Abilene’s minor league club. Another essay describes the early baseball career of Carl Mays, who is primarily remembered for throwing a pitch while he was a member of the New York Yankees that resulted in the death of Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman. Also included are biographies of six Black and Native American ballplayers who spent time on the rosters of predominantly white minor league clubs and independent teams during the nineteenth century. There are also essays about four Black ballplayers associated with Kansas City baseball before and after the founding of the Negro National League in 1920, including Andy Cooper, an inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and Alfred “Army” Cooper, who honed his baseball skills while serving in Arizona with the 25th US Infantry.