My Greatest Day in Baseball

My Greatest Day in Baseball was originally published in 1945 and re-printed in 1950 and 1951. The 1951 edition includes 47 stories from notable baseball personages, most of whom pick one greatest day to describe, while a couple list a few games. One part, about Christy Mathewson, is told by an outside observer rather than by the player himself. The book covers 1900s stars like Cy Young (who talks about his perfect game) and Honus Wagner (talking about the 1909 World Series finale) to players just starting out when the book was written, like Mickey Mantle.

Some picks seem obvious - Gabby Hartnett on the "Homer in the Gloaming" or Carl Hubbell's gem in the 1934 All-Star Game. Others are more personal - Ralph Kiner hitting a pinch-hit grand slam while battling illness or George Sisler outdueling his idol, Walter Johnson. A few games are picked by multiple people: Grover Cleveland Alexander and Rogers Hornsby both picked Alexander's relief outing in the 1926 World Series, while Johnson and Muddy Ruel picked the finale of the 1924 World Series.

The stories are told to a range of sportswriters; the lead credit went to John Carmichael and other writers included Bob Broeg, Dan Daniel and Hal Totten.