Handsome Ransom Jackson: Accidental Big Leaguer

Jackson's folksy, unassuming account brings back memories of baseball's pre-steroid days as it follows him from his rugged Arkansas childhood in Great Depression to a star turn in college and prominence in big-league baseball. Despite never playing baseball or football in high school, he starred at Texas Christian University in the 1945 Cotton Bowl and later won for another college at the same event the following year. The most enjoyable sections of the book come with Jackson joining the hapless Chicago Cubs in 1950, becoming a star in 1953%E2%80%931955, and then being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers that year to succeed the aging Jackie Robinson. Although Jackson gained fame as the last Brooklyn Dodger to hit a home run, he retired in a Cleveland Indians uniform after over a decade of career games, achieving big pro numbers and memories of playing among sports icons. Jackson, with the support of former sportswriter White, shows no ego or arrogance when he writes candidly: "I'm a lucky guy, lucky to be the right guy in the right place at the right time." (Feb.)