Pacific Coast League books

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Posted By: brian p

A couple of great PCL books not yet mentioned are two written by John Spalding: Pacific Coast League Stars, volumes one and two. Each give a nice biographical write-up with photo on one hundred PCL players (the first one concentrates mainly on those players who had significant and lengthy PCL careers, and the second focuses on PCL players who eventually made their mark in the majors), with the best year in the PCL and overall career PCL stats listed in the first book, and each years' PCL stats and overall PCL and major league stats in the second volume. They are a great way of getting familiar with the significant players of the PCL, from its founding in 1903 to its death knell (here comes the Dodgers and Giants) in 1957. They are both out of print, but as of a couple of years ago the second one was still available from the author. Mark MaCrae would probably be able to steer you in the right direction.

An incredibly exhaustive statistical record of the PCL (with stats on every player who ever played in this same time frame, I believe) was recently released after years of research in a very limited edition. Not sure of the author's name, and don't have one (it was selling for somewhere between $100-150), but once again Mark might be able to hook you up.

Hope this helps,

Brian