The Redheaded Outfield & Other Baseball Stories

by Zane Grey

There was Delaney's red-haired trio--Red Gilbat, left fielder; Reddy Clammer, right fielder, and Reddie Ray, center fielder, composing the most remarkable outfield ever developed in minor league baseball. It was Delaney's pride, as it was also his trouble.

Red Gilbat was nutty--and his batting average was .371. Any student of baseball could weigh these two facts against each other and understand something of Delaney's trouble. It was not possible to camp on Red Gilbat's trail. The man was a jack-o'-lantern, a will-o'-the-wisp, a weird, long- legged, long-armed, red-haired illusive phantom. When the gong rang at the ball grounds there were ten chances to one that Red would not be present. He had been discovered with small boys peeping through knotholes at the vacant left field he was supposed to inhabit during play.

Of course what Red did off the ball grounds was not so important as what he did on. And there was absolutely no telling what under the sun he might do then except once out of every three times at bat he could be counted on to knock the cover off the ball.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Fiction, Short Stories, Westerns

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1915

About the author

Pearl Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. As of June 2007, the Internet Movie Database credits Grey with 110 films, one TV episode, and a series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater based loosely on his novels and short stories.

Reviews

[Ph. D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was a mere lad some 60 years prior, "The Red-Headed Outfield" was included in a Cub Scout magazine called Boys' Life, to which I subscribed. Red Gilbat (batty), Reddy Clammer (clamors for attention), and the Willie Mays-esque Reddie Ray (a ray of light) captured my young imagination. In subsequent years I have searched for "The Red-Headed Outfield," even combing the books for sale at the Zane Grey museum in eastern Ohio, but only found it in rare books selling for upwards of $50. What a surprise when my daughter presented me with this classic on my 70th birthday. I dove into it, and yes, Red was still goofy, Reddy still a hot dog, and Reddie the epitome of class, grace, competitiveness, and athletic perfection. The other stories in the book are amusing (in an anachronistic sense), but you go to a steak house for the steak, not the potatoes. Feast on the title story, and imagine yourself covering the entire outfield, then winning the game with an inside the park grand slam. Now if my daughter could locate an authentic Reddie Ray jersey....

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of eleven stories about baseball that was originally published in 1915. Grey is now remembered primarily as a Western writer, but he had a long and successful association with the sport. He attended the University of Pennsylvania on a baseball scholarship and graduated in 1896 with a degree in dentistry. He (and his brother, Romer) played amateur and semi-professional baseball for several years, so he was quite familiar with his subject matter. The Redheaded Outfield is a very funny story, as are the Rube stories, which detail the career of an unworldly young pitcher who makes good for a minor league team. The Rube stories were printed out of chronological sequence in the book for some reason, but they were still fun. There's an occasional element of romance uncharacteristic for juvenile sports stories of the time, and the wives and girlfriends have some amusing moments, too. There are also a couple of very well-written sentimental tales, Old Well-Well (about an old fan who makes a final trip to the park to see his nephew play), and The Manager of Madden's Hill (about a disabled young man who manages his neighborhood team to success in a story worthy of a Bowery Boys caper). Some of the terminology and baseball strategy is quite dated, but you could also say that same thing about baseball stories written in 2015. It's still essentially the same game, right? Okay, everybody sing: "Take me out to the ballgame..."

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, entertaining stories about baseball (in USA) way back.

[Jim Krotzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an old collection of baseball stories by the popular western writer Zane Grey. The baseball terms are anachronistic. Two stories are very similar to two other stories.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1915, these baseball stories for boys are interesting, and evoke a spirit of the time in which they are set. Baseball has certainly changed in the last hundred years!

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

A collection of dated and corny baseball stories from Zane Grey, the writer of the Lone Ranger stories. Most of the stories drag and conclude blandly. The funnies aren’t funny and the action isn’t exciting. Grey’s weird social conventions are also distracting. For example, one story hinges on the idea that a woman was likely to have her life ruined by agreeing to kiss a man to whom she isn’t married. Another on the idea that cripples (Grey's word choice) are and feel worthless. None of the stories are really memorable for positive reasons. All are insipid.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book discusses a minor-league baseball team, and gives good characterizations of the players, managers, and their wives. It would be interesting to people who love baseball.

[E. L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Redhead

Not what I was expecting but not bad. I like Zane Grey but I read more of his Western books

[N Lopez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun at first, even though I don't know much anything about baseball. I like the stories about the rube, even though they appeared to be out of order. But at the end, the same story was pretty much repeated, just from two different points of view (but not actually the same story, thus really boring.) Not that worth it.