Big Loosh - by Jim Leeke (Hardcover)

About the Book

Big Loosh is the biography of Ron Luciano, an outsized figure who was an MLB umpire in the 1970s, worked in broadcasting, published five books, and became a personality off the field--yet whose upbeat public face was at odds with his private struggle with depression.

Book Synopsis

Ron Luciano was a college football star, baseball umpire, TV broadcaster, and best-selling author. He barged through the world with an outsized personality, entertaining many, offending a few, and hiding behind a cheerful and outrageous persona until life somehow proved unbearable. Everyone knew him, but nobody really did.

Once an All-American tackle at Syracuse University, Luciano turned to umpiring after an injury derailed his professional football career, and he quickly moved up the Minor League ladder to reach the Majors in 1969. As a big, likable loser--Oliver Hardy in blue--he became a fan favorite in the American League, "shooting" runners with his forefinger, conducting a legendary feud with Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver, and entertaining writers with outlandish baseball stories--some of which were even true. Even as he added years to his umpiring career and was considered among the game's best, some players and managers thought his showmanship detracted from his abilities. He later became a baseball color analyst on national TV before coauthoring a series of rollicking best-selling sports books. Away from the game, he loved Shakespeare and birdwatching. But his upbeat public face was at odds with his private struggle with depression. His suicide at age fifty-seven shocked and puzzled friends, fans, and readers alike.

In Big Loosh Jim Leeke recounts Luciano's unlikely career, detailing his life as athlete, arbiter, sportscaster, writer, and mythmaker while separating fact from fiction amid the fanciful stories he loved to spin. As a friend said of Luciano, "If you didn't like this man, you didn't like people."

Review Quotes

"Ron Luciano broke the mold for umpires and changed baseball in the process. An outrageous character in a boring business, Luciano pioneered the path for MLB umpires to move to the forefront of major sport arbiters. Jim Leeke looks at all of it with the eyes of a great storyteller."--Chris Welsh, Cincinnati Reds broadcaster and former MLB pitcher

"Ron Luciano was big. He was loud. He was gregarious. He was also prone to depression and struggled to find a way beyond the caricature his life became. This multifaceted book is a must-read for anyone interested in baseball or how long-term celebrity can affect mental health."--Lee Kluck, author of Leave While the Party's Good: The Life and Legacy of Baseball Executive Harry Dalton

"We all knew Ron Luciano. Until we didn't. Until the jolly giant took his own life. Through meticulous research and superb writing, Jim Leeke tells the riveting, often humorous, always poignant and captivating story of a deceptively complex man. Be ready to turn pages and stay up past your bedtime."--Jan Finkel, 2012 recipient of SABR's Bob Davids Award

About the Author

Jim Leeke is a former journalist, copywriter, and retired creative director. He interviewed Ron Luciano during Luciano's first book tour in 1982. Leeke is the author of several books, including The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I (Potomac, 2024) and From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War (Nebraska, 2017), winner of the SABR Larry Ritter Award. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.