"The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter

[JimStinson]

In answering a members post regarding a baseball book I reminded myself of something I've been wanting to post on a seperate thread. In my opinion probably the BEST baseball book ever written "The Glory of Their Times" by Larry Ritter (1966).
When I first read it as a kid it helped launch my interest in collecting autographs. Each chapter is devoted to and is basically an interview with a number of early 20th century baseball players conducted between 1962-1966. A little known fact is that even though the book sold over 360,000 copies with royalties of one quarter of a million dollars. Ritter as part of his original agreement divided the proceeds equally between himself and the 22 men in the original book and eventually their estates. Taking only one share for himself.
I came to know Larry Ritter personally quite by accident , One day around 1991 I recieved a phone call and the caller placed a small order from one of my autograph catalogs. In writing down the information he gave me his name and I said "Same name as the guy that wrote the best baseball book ever" , he was kind of quiet for a second or two and modestly told me he was the author , I was FLOORED !!! Although I never met him we would have many conversations over the years and the thing that amazed me the most was his genuine humility.
I told him how many collectors shared my opinion about the book. Inevidably in my conversations with other collectors his name would come up. One collector asked me one day if it would be possible for me to provide Mr Ritter's address in order that he get his copy of the book signed. I told him I'd be happy to ask him if it would be OK. His answer was amazing ! he told me "give them my phone number". He always signed the books and it never ceased to amaze me how many people would call back to thank me after spending an hour on the phone with Larry Ritter.
I asked him one day "Are you sure you don't mind the imposition of all of those phone calls ?" and he said he actually enjoyed it and to feel free to give his number , no need to ask his permission. Wow !
Lawrence Ritter passed away in 2004. I still have my dog eared weather worn copy of "Glory of Their Times" and no I never asked Larry to sign it, wish I did. Quite a guy , quite a book.

What follows is a paragraph from wiki regarding the book , enjoy

In researching The Glory of Their Times, Ritter travelled 75,000 miles to interview his subjects, sitting for hours listening to them tell their tales into his tape recorder. Ritter's "Existential" style of interviewing was to allow his subjects to reminisce freely, rarely prodding or probing them on anything. No questions about specific games. No questions about what it was like to face certain players. Ritter's technique was to get his interviewee comfortable around him, to turn the tape-recorder on, and shut up while his subjects spoke. Ritter's style elicited responses that other reporters never reach with questions. His most difficult "find" was Sam Crawford, who shared the outfield with Ty Cobb in Detroit. After being given only cryptic hints about where he might find Crawford, i.e., "drive between 175 and 225 miles north of Los Angeles", Crawford's wife told Ritter, "and you'll be warm" - Ritter ended up in Baywood Park, California where his inquiries yielded nothing. After several days, he sat in a laundromat watching his clothes spin beside an old man. Ritter asked him if he knew anything about Sam Crawford, the old ball player. The man replied, "Well I should hope so. Bein' as I'm him."