Author dedicates to writing over 30 books on sports

An Amherst author has what seems like the entire Cleveland Indians roster, past and present, in his contacts.

Wayne Stewart, 68, rung in the publication of his 35th book “Wits, Flakes and Clowns: The Colorful Characters of Baseball” on March 11, which highlights Major League’s Baseball goofiest pranksters and features many former and present Tribe players.

“Cleveland fans will probably like to read about guys like Jimmy Piersall and Gaylord Perry,” Stewart said. “There’s even a section on (Francisco) Lindor and (Trevor) Bauer.”

Stewart said he has averaged a book a year since he began writing in 1978.

Growing up on the mound

Having grown up in Donora, Pa., Stewart said his passion for sports started young.

“It’s a steel town and it had a strong work ethic,” he said. “It got the nickname ‘Home of Champions’ because it produced a lot of athletes.”

Stewart came in contact with one of those athletes himself, having been on the same baseball team as Ken Griffey Sr., who later racked up three All-Star awards in his nearly 20-year career in the majors.

Stewart later attended and graduated from California State College in California, Pa., in 1973 before moving to Lorain.

He was an English teacher with Lorain City Schools until he retired in 2004, and began freelancing for magazines and newspapers like The Morning Journal.

Establishing sources

Stewart said his love for writing, perseverance and gaining credibility through experience is what helped his writing career flourish.

“Part of it’s luck, that you have to find a publisher,” he said. “I’ve had quite a few different publishers.

“Sometimes you stay with one for four, five books, then maybe they don’t like the next idea, so you’ve got to scour around for the next publisher.”

Often times, Stewart said he works through alumni groups for professional teams and finds former players to interview and has gained contact with other sources over time and persistence.

“Once you have experience, then you have more credibility, so just some of it’s trial and error,” he said. “You call somebody up, they’re willing to help.

“The thing I really enjoy is I’ve found that I’ll go to the ballpark and interview active players for some books, but the ones I enjoy talking to more are the older guys, and I think they appreciate that. Somebody’s still interested in them.”

A book Stewart recently wrote was “1960: When the Pittsburgh Pirates Had Them All the Way,” which allowed him to sit down with almost every single living player of the World Series-winning team.

Other notable interviews he’s sat down for are with Raymond Berry, Pro Football Hall of Fame member, Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, the late San Diego Padres right fielder Tony Gwynn and pitcher Nolan Ryan.

Stewart also wrote a biography on St. Louis Cardinal Stan Musial, who also is from Donora.

As for the act of writing, Stewart said recognition works a bit differently.

“When you’re involved with anything where there’s an audience, like an entertainer on stage or comedian on stage, they get immediate feedback,” he said. “We sit there on a typewriter or word processor, and you can’t turn around and go ‘Ta-da, look at that sentence.’”

Everyone’s a comic

Stewart said getting his latest book published was an involved affair.

“I was working on that book for something like 25 years,” he said, adding that he spoke with about 150 people and profiled 135.

Stewart said the idea for the book came from an article he wrote for Beckett Media, which is about Major League Baseball’s players who are or were pranksters during their career.

“I love humor,” he said. “I try to inject it in books when possible.”

Over those 25 years of writing the book, Stewart said he gathered information bit-by-bit at different ballparks around the nation.

“It’s the culmination of a lot of trips to a lot of ballparks, a lot of interviews and phone calls,” he said. “For a lot of reasons, it may be my favorite book.”

Stewart said his book is available wherever books are sold and can be found on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

He plans to do a book signing at the Barnes & Noble in Westlake, 198 Crocker Park Blvd., but the date is tentative.

Stewart will be featured during at 6:30 p.m., April 30, at the Amherst Public Library, 221 Spring St., in the DeLloyd Room.

JORDANA JOY — THE MORNING JOURNAL Wayne Stewart, 68, of Amherst, shows a few of his published books featuring professional basketball, football and baseball. His newest book, pictured right, came out March 11.