Lonnie Wheeler
AUTHOR

Lonnie Wheeler

Tap the gear icon above to manage new release emails.
Lonnie Wheeler is a former journalist and the author of non-fiction books. His latest, Pitch by Pitch, marks his third collaboration with baseball great Bob Gibson. Released on October 6, 2015, by Flatiron Books, it tracks Gibson's historic performance in Game One of the 1968 World Series.

Pitch by Pitch closely follows Intangiball, which was released on August 11, 2015. Published by Simon & Schuster, it champions the value of intangibles in relation to baseball players and teams. For Intangiball, Wheeler was a winner of the 2016 SABR Baseball Research Award.

A native of St. Louis, Wheeler moved to Kirksville, Missouri, during his high school years, and there began his newspaper career. As a journalism student at the University of Missouri (class of 1974), he interned in the sports departments of the Cincinnati Enquirer and Miami Herald. He returned to the Enquirer in 1977 and left in 1984 to pursue freelance writing. Wheeler later wrote a sports column for the Cincinnati Post.

His first book, The Cincinnati Game, was co-authored by John Baskin and published by Orange Frazer Press in 1988. The same year saw the release of Bleachers, for which Wheeler spent a season watching ballgames from the bleachers of Wrigley Field.

In 1991, he collaborated on Hank Aaron's autobiography, I Had A Hammer, which reached No. 5 on the New York Times bestseller list. He also assisted on the autobiographies of Gibson (Stranger to the Game) and Mike Piazza (Long Shot), another Times bestseller; and joined Gibson and Reggie Jackson to write Sixty Feet, Six Inches.

Wheeler's other collaborations include the memoirs of former Detroit mayor Coleman Young (Hard Stuff) and Omega Boys Club founder Joe Marshall (Street Soldier). In 1998, he described the culture of Kentucky basketball in Blue Yonder.

Lonnie and his wife, Martie, live in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they raised three children: Abby, Clark, and Emily.
Read more Read less

Try Audible membership today. Start enjoying the benefits.

Try Audible for free with an audiobook of your choice.
Try Standard free
Auto-renews at AUD $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell

Most popular
View Details

Most Popular

Product list
  • Long Shot cover art
    Preview

    $28.07 or free with 30-day trial

  • The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell cover art
    Preview

    $25.02 or free with 30-day trial