The Young Pitcher

Hazing became a regular form of initiation, not just for college fraternities and sororities, but also for sports teams. The latter ranged from relatively benign pranks to more physical and mental “put downs.” Therefore, it wasn’t unusual for author Pearl Zane Grey to have such personal confrontations, because he loved the game of baseball and was a good enough player to earn a baseball scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania. He once dropped his surname to preserve his scholarship while playing in lower-level minor league games. His knowledge later led to writing two published books about baseball, including the one you’re about to hear.

Exposed to tales of the Old West, Grey shifted his literary focus and became better known for books about western adventures, leading to a successful writing career that included a total of eighty-nine books. Listen now to the outlandish behavior encountered by youthful Ken Ward as he entered the fictional college baseball arena, so very different from the game of today.