Sign-In
Cart
Dream Merchant of the Perfect Game: The Life and Legacy of Frank Doc Sykes
Paperback
Biographies GeneralBaseball & Softball20th Century United States History
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
Publisher: Mascot Books
Published: Apr 1 2025
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.47
Height: 0.52 Width: 5.61 Depth: 8.20
Language: English
Dream Merchant of the Perfect Game: The Life and Legacy of Frank Doc Sykes is the story of a dedicated medical professional, an extraordinary athlete, and a courageous human rights advocate.
Taking the stand in the Scottsboro Boys trials, Sykes's testimony helped transform the national justice system on the basis that Blacks were excluded from the jury pool because of their race. One generation removed from slavery, he excelled at Atlanta Baptist College (now Morehouse College) and went on to become a practicing dentist with a degree from the prestigious Howard University. Even while pursuing dentistry, Sykes became a major-league-caliber pitcher for a number of Negro League teams, including the Baltimore Black Sox.
Despite being in the prime of his athletic career, from 1918 to 1919, he heeded the call of the United States government to serve in the US Army during World War I. His finest years in professional African American baseball, however, came before the official recognition of the Negro Leagues by Major League Baseball (MLB). In the early 1920s, Sykes won thirty games in a season, pitched a no-hitter, and consistently defeated teams composed of white players, several of which included major-league stars.
A native of Decatur, Alabama, he eventually made Baltimore his second home. Frank Sykes's life story is interconnected with the history of the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and one man's unrelenting struggle for racial equality.
Also in
Baseball & Softball
Dick Bremer: Game Used: My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins
Bremer, Dick
Bruton, Jim
Hardcover
The Magical Game: The Spirit and History of Baseball's Superstitions, Rituals, and Curses
Baird, Addy
Hardcover
Fans First: Change The Game, Break the Rules & Create an Unforgettable Experience
Cole, Jesse
Paperback
The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner
Vaccaro, Mike
Hardcover
Unhittable: How Technology, Mavericks, and Innovators Engineered Baseball's New Era of Pitching Dominance
Friedman, Rob
Hardcover
October Men: Reggie Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, and the Yankees' Miraculous Finish in 1978
Kahn, Roger
Paperback
True Blue: The Dramatic History of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Told by the Men Who Lived It
Delsohn, Steve
Paperback
It's a Numbers Game! Baseball: The Math Behind the Perfect Pitch, the Game-Winning Grand Slam, and So Much More!
Buckley
National Geographic Kids
Hardcover
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
Miller, John W.
Hardcover
The Pressure Code: How Elite Performers Align Their Energy, Emotions, and Environment
Stacy, Jason
Hardcover
Royal Treatment: Jackie Robinson, Montreal, and the Breaking of Baseball's Color Barrier
McLaughlin, Sean J.
Hardcover
Brain Games - To Go - Facts & Fun: Baseball: Info, Stats, Puzzles, Quizzes & More
Brain Games
Publications International Ltd
Paperback
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II
Keene, Anne R.
Paperback
The Chosen City, The Owner, the Players, and the New Hampshire City that Integrated Baseball in the United States
Ranauro, Bill
Paperback
Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball's Greatest Rivalry
Wrenn, Chris
Hardcover
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
O'Brien, Keith
Paperback
The Franchise: San Francisco Giants: A Curated History of the Orange and Black
Pavlovic, Alex
Paperback
A Year of Playing Catch: What a Simple Daily Experiment Taught Me about Life
Bryan, Ethan D.
Paperback
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season
Ballard, Chris
Paperback
The National Baseball Hall of Fame Collection: Celebrating the Game's Greatest Players
Buckley Jr, James
Hardcover
In the Japanese Ballpark: Behind the Scenes of Nippon Professional Baseball
Fitts, Robert K.
Hardcover
The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality
Pearlman, Jeff
Paperback
America's Classic Ballparks - Revised Edition: Celebrating Parks Past and Present
Buckley Jr, James
Hardcover
Motor Preferences for Baseball: A Coach's Guide to Identifying and Respecting Player Strengths to Enhance Performance and Reduce Injury
Swope, Matthew
Genest, David
Paperback
The Last Best League, 10th Anniversary Edition: One Summer, One Season, One Dream
Collins, Jim
Paperback
Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game
Schwartz, Peter J.
Sexton, John
Oliphant, Thomas
Paperback
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Mahler, Jonathan
Paperback
L.A. Story: Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a Season for the Ages
Plunkett, Bill
Hardcover
The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness
Olney, Buster
Paperback
Out of This World: How the Los Angeles Dodgers Captured Back-To-Back World Series Championships
Los Angeles Daily News
Paperback
We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball: How the Czech Republic's Amateur Underdogs Became World Baseball Classic Heroes
Clair, Michael
Hardcover
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It
Ritter, Lawrence S.
Paperback
Weird Moments in Cleveland Sports: Bottlegate, Bedbugs, and Burying the Pennant
Guerrieri, Vince
Paperback
Summer of the Cheap Wieners: What the 1941 Phillies Were Up to While Joe Dimaggio Was Making History
Klugh, Justin
Paperback
Baseball's Greatest Pitchers: Icons of Excellence from the Baseball Hall of Fame
Aretha, David
Hardcover
They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The '69 Mets, New York City, and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History
Coffey, Wayne
Paperback
Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History
Murphy, Cait N.
Paperback
Legendary Ballparks: Moments and Memories from America's Most Storied Stadiums
Enders, Eric
Hardcover
Coaching with Purpose: The Game Plan That Helps Coaches Build Winners on and Off the Field
Madison, Keith
Paperback
The Baseball Book of Why: The Answers to Questions You've Always Wondered about from America's National Pastime
McCollister, John
Paperback
Hot Foot: My Hijinks and Upside-Down Life with the World Champion New York Mets
McDowell, Roger
Feldmann, Doug
Hardcover
America's Ballparks: A Trip Across the Country to Visit Baseball's Playing Fields, Old and New
Hajeski, Nancy J.
Hardcover
Brain Games - Baseball Goats (Greatest of All Time) Word Search: Players, Managers, Games, Mascots, & More!
Brain Games
Publications International Ltd
Paperback
The Incredible Philadelphia Phillies Trivia Book: 300 Questions for the Super-Fan
Reavy, Kevin
Spaeder, Ryan
Paperback
The Making of Major League: A Juuuust a Bit Inside Look at the Classic Baseball Comedy
Knight, Jonathan
Paperback
Tenacious and True: Coastal Carolina's 2016 Championship and the Rise of a Baseball Power
Pleasant, Scott
Hardcover
Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994-1997
Hamilton, Tom
Pluto, Terry
Paperback
Back When We Were Colored, Helping Black Athletes During Segregation, and Being Helped By Some 'Decent White Men' Along the Way
Woolfolk, Virgal Tyrone
Paperback
The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer's Thirty-Two Years in Arlington
Sullivan, T. R.
Hardcover
Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley's Swingin' A's
Turbow, Jason
Paperback
Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball
Epplin, Luke
Paperback
Slider: A baseball story that throws love, murder, drugs and corruption into the game.
Alderman, Peter
Paperback
The Baseball Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree: Where baseball and family become legend
Hurte, Robert V.
Paperback
The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Challenge: Over 600 Quiz Questions for Die-Hard Baseball Fans
Patton, Hank
Paperback
Second to None: A Coach's Message of Love & Selflessness Propels Tiny El Segundo to a Dramatic Little League World Title
Coonan
Boehle, Danny Joseph
Paperback