The Twenty-Four-Inch Home Run

The Twenty-Four-Inch Home Run: And Other Outlandish, Incredible But True Events in Baseball History is a book about baseball lore written by sportswriter Michael G. Bryson. The title refers to the book's central story, about a game where Andy Oyler hit a baseball that became stuck in the mud 24 inches in front of home plate, allowing him to score an inside-the-park home run before the opposing team located it.[1] All told, the book contains 250 such stories, including an anecdote about a team registering a triple play without touching the ball.[1] Bryson also debunks several well-known baseball legends, including Babe Ruth's called shot and the story that Abner Doubleday invented baseball.[1]

The Twenty-Four-Inch Home Run: And Other Outlandish, Incredible But True Events in Baseball History
AuthorMichael G. Bryson
LanguageEnglish
SubjectBaseball
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherContemporary Books
Publication date
1990
Pages293
ISBN978-0-8092-4341-9

The News Journal described the book as being filled with "wisecrack anecdotes" and "amazing facts, ludicrous turns of events, and hilarious quotes."[1] Baseball historian Stew Thornley described the book as "compilation of strange but supposedly true baseball tales", but questioned the veracity of the Oyler story, saying that Bryson "provides more details and great embellishment but did not give the date of the game."[2]

The book has been cited as a source by Society for American Baseball Research,[3] several reference books,[4][5][6] and a book about baseball's influence on American foreign policy.[7] One review wryly quipped "The title explains this book about as well as any brief review could."[8]

It was used as a source for Matt Tavares's children's book Mudball.[9] The book was featured by the LA84 Foundation in its 1991 convention.[10]

References
  1. De Yampert, Rick (September 2, 1990). ""Home Run" eases torment of football". The News Journal.
  2. Thornley, Stew (2006). Short Home Runs: Mythical and Real. Baseball in Minnesota: the Definitive History. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 51. ISBN 9780873515511.
  3. Thornley, Stew. "Nicollet Park (Minneapolis)". The Baseball Biography Project. Society for American Baseball Research.
  4. Porterfield, Jason (2009). "Bibliography". Baseball in the American League Central Division. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 45. ISBN 9781435850422.
  5. Porterfield, Jason (2009). "Bibliography". Baseball in the American League East Division. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 45. ISBN 9781435850439.
  6. Levine, Peter (1992). Baseball History 4: An Annual of Original Baseball Research. Mecklermedia.
  7. Elias, Robert (2009). "Notes for pages 8-11". The Empire Strikes Out: How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy and Promoted. The New Press. p. 296. ISBN 9781595581952.
  8. Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide. 24–25. 1990. p. 52.
  9. Tavares, Matt (2005). "Bibliography". Mudball. Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763623876.
  10. Smith, Ronald A.; Stephen Wenn. "Convention Book Display-1991" (PDF). LA84 Foundation.
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