A Time for Reflection: The Parallel Legacies of Baseball Icons Willie McCovey and Billy Williams

A fascinating look back at the incredible lives and careers of Willie McCovey and Billy Williams, part of the second generation of Black ballplayers who followed in the footsteps of Jackie Robinson. Professional baseball has featured a bevy of superstars over the past century and a half, but only a few of them have impacted their sport and cities as deeply as Willie McCovey and Billy Williams. Born just a handful of miles apart in 1938, they grew up playing baseball in and around one of the sport’s true cradles, Mobile, Alabama, on their way to producing two iconic careers in the major leagues. In A Time for Reflection: The Parallel Legacies of Baseball Icons Willie McCovey and Billy Williams, Jason Cannon weaves together the stories of McCovey and Williams to provide an up close and personal perspective of their lives and Hall of Fame careers. Often overshadowed by their teams’ superstars, these two players, through hard work and strength of character, overcame difficult times, formidable obstacles, and hideous racism to become two of baseball’s best. Their leadership and dedication to their clubs—McCovey spent 19 of his seasons playing for the San Francisco Giants and Williams played 16 seasons for the Chicago Cubs—made them beloved by fans and teammates alike. Featuring original interviews with family members, friends, teammates, and Williams himself, A Time for Reflection brings to life their monumental accomplishments on the diamond while also detailing how these two legends grew into pillars of San Francisco and Chicago and inspired future generations of ballplayers.

About the Author :
Jason Cannon is a teacher and writer. His first book, Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman behind the Chicago Cubs, won the 2023 Larry Ritter Award, and his articles have appeared in NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. He lives in Colorado.

Review :
Cannon’s book is a fabulous examination of the invaluable legacies of Williams and McCovey to professional baseball, both on the field as ballplayers and later off the field to assist in the development of a more diverse baseball industry. Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants and Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs share much in common. They grew up a few miles from each another in Mobile, Alabama, they were two of the most prolific left-handed power hitters in baseball, they are both in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and they both have statues commemorating their greatness outside of their respective stadiums. Cannon weaves the narratives of their lives from their births in 1938 through their decades-long baseball careers in the sixties and seventies and into retirement. McCovey and Williams were children when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, but they had to endure discrimination throughout their careers, and in their later years they helped mold young players on and off the diamond. Through interviews with McCovey's family and Williams himself, this thoroughly research dual biography will have regional appeal to Giants and Cubs baseball fans and a wider appeal to readers who want an insider's look at the lives of two great athletes who prospered despite all of the hurdles placed in front of them. Cannon does a remarkable job of researching and putting into words the numerous achievements of McCovey and Williams . . . Willie McCovey and Billy Williams were humble and kind men whose stories are wonderfully told in this exceptional biography. Jason Cannon’s decision to emphasize the importance of place—Mobile, Alabama—in his portrait of baseball legends Willie McCovey and Billy Williams is inspired. The shared experience of both McCovey and Williams—two aspiring ballplayers, both born in 1938, growing up in the same town in the Jim Crow south—is both intriguing and illuminating. Cannon traces their struggles as young black players to their development as great Hall of Famers and as ambassadors of the their sport. A great contribution to the discussion of baseball, history and culture. Beautifully written and lovingly told, Jason Cannon’s dual biography of Willie McCovey and Billy Williams reminds us that beyond the boxscores, it’s the stories that matter most when it comes to baseball. A Time for Reflection is a narrative treasure. Astute baseball fans know that several great players, including five members of the Hall of Fame, were born and raised in and around Mobile, Alabama. A Time for Reflection is an insightful dual biography of two of these stars, Willie McCovey and Billy Williams. Supported by incisive research and buttressed by interviews with family members, friends, and former teammates, Jason Cannon has written a book that stands as a fine example of what baseball biography can be as both art and scholarship.