Hugh Fullerton entered the world of sportswriting when its slangy, colorful style was brand new, and he brought to the field a deep affection for and knowledge of baseball. While dispassionate analysis and statistical research was in its infancy, he developed an objective stance and accurately predicted the outcome of World Series contests. He became one of the first sportswriters to present "inside baseball"--what the players did on and off the field to help win ball games--to a wide audience. Fullerton's reverence for the game led him to crusade against its corruption when the scandal no one wanted to face erupted at the World Series of 1919.

Hugh Stuart Fullerton was born on 10 September 1873 in Hillsboro, Ohio. While still in high school, he worked for the Hillsboro newspaper; he began working for the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1889 at the age of sixteen under editor Harry Weldon, whom Fullerton described...