The book has it all — tragedy and triumph; mystery and mayhem; good and bad guys; the renowned and the unknown; even a famous biscuit recipe.
It includes the stories of players such as Ron Necciai, the only pitcher in history to strike out 27 batters in a nine-inning game; Joe Brovia, a hitter who cursed pitchers, and then, hit the cover off the ball; Bob Dillinger, a perennial .300 hitter in the majors, who was exiled to the minors because he didn't give team management the respect they wanted.
Accidental Big Leaguer covers the career of Jackson, a two-time National League All-Star in the 1950s and the last Brooklyn Dodger to hit a home run.
The book was a grand slam with Allen Barra of the Chicago Tribune, who wrote: “We can only hope that among today’s players there’s someone as sharp and funny as Handsome Ransom Jackson to remember them.” Singles and Smiles traces Artie Wilson's life from Birmingham, Alabama, where he was born in 1920 to Portland, Oregon, where he lived 55 years until his death in 2010 at the age of 90.
Despite his brief stay in the majors, Artie knew from five all-star seasons with the Birmingham Black Barons (1944–48) in the Negro American League that he could play with the best.