World Literary Awards

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Mike Sowell

マイク・ソウェル

Maiku Sōeru

Profile

Gender
Male
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Tulsa, Oklahoma → Stillwater, Oklahoma

Career

Occupations
sports historian, baseball book author, sportswriter, journalism professor
Active Years
1980-
Affiliations
Tulsa Tribune, Oklahoma State University

Awards

CASEY Award
1989
Work: The Pitch That Killed
Organization: Spitball: The Baseball Literary Magazine
Result: winner
Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame
2007
Result: inducted

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Pitch That Killed

1989 baseball nonfiction

The story of the only on-field fatality in major league baseball history, when Yankees' Carl Mays beaned Indians' Ray Chapman in 1920.

baseball tragedybeanball fatalitypennant race

One Pitch Away

baseball nonfiction

About the 1986 baseball postseason, featuring Donnie Moore whose suicide was linked to ALCS, and Bill Buckner.

postseasonplayer tragediessuicideWorld Series

July 2, 1903

1992 baseball nonfiction

Explores the mysterious death of Hall-of-Famer Ed Delahanty swept over Niagara Falls.

mysterious deathbaseball Hall of Famer

Bibliography

  • The Pitch That Killed
  • One Pitch Away
  • July 2, 1903

Style & Themes

Recurring Motifs
baseball tragedies

Legacy

Sports historian and author of baseball books focusing on tragedies. Won the CASEY Award for best baseball book of 1989. Named a Notable Book by The New York Times. Journalism professor at Oklahoma State University. Wrote text for Cardtoons parody cards, winning a First Amendment case against MLBPA.

In Popular Culture

  • Involved in Cardtoons v. MLBPA, where parody cards were ruled protected by the First Amendment.

Trivia

  • Former sportswriter for the Tulsa Tribune.
  • Inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2007.