Lawrence Ritter

Lawrence Stanley Ritter (May 23, 1922 – February 15, 2004) was an American writer whose specialties were economics and baseball.[1]

Lawrence Ritter
Born(1922-05-23)May 23, 1922
New York City, U.S.
DiedFebruary 15, 2004(2004-02-15) (aged 81)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationProfessor, author, sportswriter
Alma materIndiana University (B.A.)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (Ph.D.)
SubjectBusiness, Sports
Notable worksThe Glory of Their Times
Children1

Ritter was a professor of economics and finance, and chairman of the Department of Finance at the Graduate School of Business Administration of New York University. He also edited The Journal of Finance from 1964 to 1966.[2] In 1970, Ritter served as president of the American Finance Association. He died at age 81 in New York City. His book, Principles of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, coauthored with William L. Silber and Gregory F. Udell, has gone through twelve editions and has been a standard college text since it was first published in 1974.

Ritter is best known for writing one of the most famous sports books of all time, The Glory of Their Times (1966, updated 1984). He collaborated with another baseball historian, Donald Honig, on The Image of Their Greatness (1979) and The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time (1981, featuring several players who would later be dropped in favor of new players on several later all-time greats lists).

In researching The Glory of Their Times, Ritter travelled 75,000 miles to interview his subjects, sitting for hours listening to them tell their tales into his tape recorder. Ritter's "Existential" style of interviewing was to allow his subjects to reminisce freely, rarely prodding or probing them on anything. No questions about specific games. No questions about what it was like to face certain players. Ritter's technique was to get his interviewee comfortable around him, to turn the tape-recorder on, and shut up while his subjects spoke. Ritter's style elicited responses that other reporters never reach with questions. His most difficult "find" was Sam Crawford, who shared the outfield with Ty Cobb in Detroit. After being given only cryptic hints about where he might find Crawford, i.e., "drive between 175 and 225 miles north of Los Angeles", Crawford's wife told Ritter, "and you'll be warm" – Ritter ended up in Baywood Park, California where his inquiries yielded nothing. After several days, he sat in a laundromat watching his clothes spin beside an old man. Ritter asked him if he knew anything about Sam Crawford, the old ball player. The man replied, "Well I should hope so. Bein' as I'm him."

Books

Baseball
  • Ritter, Lawrence S. (1966). The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0688112738.
  • Ritter, Lawrence S.; Honig, Donald (1981). The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0517543009.
  • Ritter, Lawrence S. (1984). The Image of Their Greatness: An Illustrated History of Baseball from 1900 to the Present. Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0517587287.
  • Ritter, Lawrence S. (1992). Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields. Avery Publishing. ISBN 978-0670838110.
  • Ritter, Lawrence S.; Merkin, Richard (1995). Leagues Apart: The Men and Times of the Negro Baseball Leagues. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0688133160.
  • Ritter, Lawrence S. (1998). East Side, West Side: Tales of New York Sporting Life, 1910-1960. Total Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-0965694964.

Economics
  • Ritter, Lawrence S. (1961). Money and Economic Activity, Readings in Money and Banking (1st ed.). Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 039-5050987.
  • Ritter, Lawrence S. (1974). Principles of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets (1st ed.). Basic Books. ISBN 046-5063357.

References
  1. Goldstein, Richard (February 17, 2004). "Lawrence S. Ritter, Chronicler of Baseball History, Dies at 81". The New York Times.
  2. J. Suter. TAPPING THE KEG. Cumberland Evening Times. September 30, 1966. pp. 13 & 15
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