New Baseball Books Dots Miller Bio & Unlucky 13: They Wore a Pirate Uniform

[z28jd]

I got the chance to work on three books during the second half of last year. The first one was a passion project, where I detailed the life and baseball career game-by-game of Dots Miller, who is probably more famous on this site than any Pirates/Cardinals/Phillies site. He lived his life in Kearny, NJ, where I was born. I'm a Pirates fan. We have ten relatives in common, so it was a book I wanted to do for a long time.

https://www.amazon.com/They-Call-Him.../dp/B0CV633PNT

I also helped on a 2024 Minor League Guide for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I didn't really push that here because a majority of it isn't relevant to this site, though I did four history stories in the book detailing how they built their farm system throughout the years. There's a great virtually unknown 1884 story about big league teams having their own minor league teams for a short time.

https://www.amazon.com/Pittsburgh-Pi.../dp/B0CWB4VDT1

Anyway, the third book was just released. It's titled Unlucky 13: They Wore a Pirate Uniform. Yes, the players are all Pirates, but this particular book works for all fans due to the stories. It's 13 short stories of players who were with the Pirates during the regular season, but for one reason or another, they didn't get into a game. It has happened about 40-50 times in team history, so a lot of the research was just finding the best 13 stories from that group (meaning there could be a follow up book with shorter stories on a bigger group of players). These stories range from a future Hall of Famer to a guy who never played a game of pro ball, and everything in between. Each story is unique, including a war hero who met a tragic ending before he could make the majors.

The book is only $12.99, which matches the length of the book, but not the research that went into finding small details on some players who are almost virtually unknown to anyone in baseball history. I didn't even know one of them before I started writing and all I do is Pirates history. He actually bumped another player to keep the "unlucky 13" theme.

Please consider purchasing the book or just share it with someone who might be interested. Thank you.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CY574YNS

[bobbvc]

Picked up the Dots Miller book. Great read 4 chapters in. (Got it an hour ago). I have a very rare Dots piece I will try to post here. Having trouble posting pics since I got an APPLE computer.

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by bobbvc

Picked up the Dots Miller book. Great read 4 chapters in. (Got it an hour ago). I have a very rare Dots piece I will try to post here. Having trouble posting pics since I got an APPLE computer.

Send me a PM if you can't figure it out. Might be easier to email it? I could post it for you.

Thanks for the purchase! Hope you enjoy the rest of the book just as much. That was my passion project, so I spent a lot of time combing through papers looking for anything. The new book is a much easier read, all short stories, though some were due to the players being almost completely unknown...which is how they ended up in the book in the first place

[z28jd]

Shameless bump on my birthday, in case anyone wants to get themselves a gift that also works as a gift for me

[z28jd]

Been a while bumping this post, but maybe you want a Father's Day gift, who knows...

The first book covers the life of Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Dots Miller, who was a key member of the 1909 World Series champs, as the double play partner of Honus Wagner. John McGraw once called Miller the most valuable player in baseball. He also mentored teenage Rogers Hornsby with the St Louis Cardinals. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CV633PNT

The latest book is titled Unlucky 13: They Wore a Pirate Uniform. It tells the stories of 13 players who were with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the regular season, but for one reason or another, they never got into a game. None of these 13 players show up in the team's all-time stats. Their unique stories range from a future Hall of Famer to a guy who never even played pro ball, plus everything in between, including a war hero who met a tragic ending. They are all covered with short stories of their time before/during/after the Pirates. The book is just $12.99. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CY574YNS

[z28jd]

I haven't bumped this post in a while, but if you're planning on getting something during the last day of Amazon Prime Days, please consider adding one of these books to your order. The biography of Dots Miller or the story of 13 players who were with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but never got into a regular season game for the team. I know it centers around the Pirates, but the stories of how they got there and then didn't play work for any baseball story. You don't need to be a Pirates fan to enjoy it.