fantagraphics:

Just in time for spring training comes Casey at the Bat and Other Diamond Tales by Willard Mullin, now available digitally through comiXology. In 1953, legendary cartoonist Willard Mullin illustrated one of America’s best-loved poems: Ernest Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat.” These images were then put on a series of drinking glasses that were given away as premiums at various major and minor league ballparks across America. The illustrations by Mullin were thought to have been lost, but were found at an auction in 2002. They have been meticulously reproduced to create this stunning edition. The book includes additional Mullin material like the “Fan’s Alphabet,” poems “Iron Horse Lou” and “O Brooklyn, My Brooklyn,” and also features a foreword by Yogi Berra and an essay on the history of both “Casey” and Mullin’s images by baseball historian Tim Wiles. 

At 52 pages long and only $6.99, make sure to read this splendid volume on your own digital reading device for a real home-field advantage.

“For whatever reason, sports cartoons, which once were a staple of so many newspapers across the country, have become a lost art. But at least now, the greatest of all sports cartoonists, Willard Mullin, has been brought back to life for a whole new generation of fans to appreciate.” – Bill Madden, NY Daily News