BOOK REVIEW: I Gave It My Best Shot by Willie Fordham

I GAVE IT MY BEST SHOT by Willie Fordham, Wordshop Press, 2000

Willie Fordham was an excellent African-American baseball pitcher that came out of mid-state Pennsylvania at precisely the wrong time for making it all the way to a major league roster. In this, his first book, he has provided a written account of his life and times that covers a critical juncture in United States history – the beginning of the end of segregation.

This is not your ordinary baseball book; in fact it is not really a book about baseball. It is a book about a man who was extraordinarily skilled at baseball and played at the highest levels of the game that his circumstances allowed. Moreover, it is a story of growing up in Pennsylvania in the ‘30s and ‘40s, maturing in the U.S. Army in the post-war era, raising a family and beginning a career in the ‘50s and receiving unnecessary but welcomed validation at the pivot of a new century.

The account begins in the rural river towns of Millerstown and Newport in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, and recounts many youthful adventures. Most of these coming with valuable lessons learned over 60 years ago but applicable to the youth of today. A recurring lesson is found in the title. It is an adage repeated by the author again and again. Give it your best shot. Never give up. The effort alone is worth it; the prize a bonus. It is precisely this lesson that makes this book an excellent gift for a young teen of any gender, race or ethnic background.

Clearly Willie Fordham had talent. His opportunities to display his talent were limited by racial segregation and the post-war glut of talent in organized baseball. However, his outstanding amateur career (Newport and Carlisle High Schools) earned him a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951, a roster spot on the final edition of the Harrisburg Senators in 1952 and eventually a spot in the rotation of the latter day Harrisburg Giants of the Eastern Negro League in ’54 and ’55. Unfortunately, the book contains little information on the social aspects of being in the early wave of the re-integration of organized baseball and no mention whatsoever of his time with the Harrisburg Giants, an integrated entry, in a lower classification of the dying Negro Leagues. Given my enthusiasm for what Mr. Fordham covered in this book, I truly would welcome a second work focusing more closely on baseball and the transitional period between segregation and integration.

I can say unequivocally that had Willie Fordham graduated from Carlisle High School in 1995 instead of 1945 when he would have had an equal shot at 50% more major league jobs, I have no doubt that Willie Fordham would be toiling in the major leagues today. However, that is merely my opinion. As for ol’ Will, he – like Buck O’Neil in his book ‘I was Right on Time” – appears more than satisfied to have come along when he did and given it his “best shot.”

Available from the author (717) 545 7565 or publisher (717) 233 7611 for $15.00 per copy.