A Time for Reflection

A Time for Reflection brings to light the captivating stories of African American Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Billy Williams. Often overshadowed by their teams’ superstars, these Alabamans would become two of baseball’s best through hard work and strength of character.

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.

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.