Baseball's ranks are filled with those whose careers may not have been as spectacular as Ruth or Mays but who played essential roles in the game's history, like footnotes in a great book. Some were well known in their day, featured on the front of the sports section; others were lesser lights whose feats and misdeeds were so notable they deserve to be remembered.

Bert Shepard pitched a game for the Washington Senators in 1945 despite being shot down over Germany the year before and losing a leg. Bernie Carbo hit a dramatic three-run homer in the eighth inning to tie Game Six of the 1975 World Series--but his blast was completely upstaged an hour or so later by Red Sox teammate Carlton Fisk's unforgettable shot down the left field line. Bo Belinsky no-hit the powerful Baltimore Orioles in 1962, but he finished his career with a monumentally disappointing 28-51 record. The 39 other subjects profiled in this work prove that, in baseball, fame can be fleeting.