I own more than one Bill Nowlin baseball title. He’s one of SABR’s finest researchers and interviewers. Enjoy his profile of Matt Batts on the SABR website here.
Nowlin got Batts to move beyond complaining about the Browns record in 1951. The catcher enjoyed hitting .300 there. Plus, Batts seemed to savor the team of characters, from Bill Veeck and Satchel Paige to Eddie Gaedel.
I tip my cap to my insightful wife for that educated guess on Batts’ cryptic autograph. Thankfully, Batts didn’t write, “Rosebud.”