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Lawrence Stanley Ritter (May 23, 1922 – February 15, 2004) was an American writer who wrote on economics and baseball.
He co-authored Principles of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets with William L. Silber and Gregory F. Udell. The book has undergone twelve editions. It has been a college textbook on Finance since it was first published in 1974.
Ritter wrote the sports book The Glory of Their Times (1966, updated 1984). He collaborated with another baseball historian, Donald Honig, on The Image of Their Greatness (1979) and The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time (1981). The latter featured several players subsequently dropped in favor of new players on later all-time greats lists.
In researching The Glory of Their Times, Ritter travelled a total distance of to interview his subjects. Ritter's "Existential" style of interviewing was to allow his subjects to reminisce freely. The style included not probing them on anything including questions about specific games or specific players. Ritter's technique was to get his interviewee comfortable around him and tape record while he remained silent. He is known for finding and interviewing Sam Crawford, who played in the outfield with Ty Cobb in Detroit. He located him based on a hint to "drive between 175 and 225 miles north of Los Angeles" by Crawford's wife. Ritter eventually located him in a laundromat in Baywood Park, California.
In 2010, Ritter was one of a select few baseball historians and writers who was awarded the first Henry Chadwick Award by the Society for American Baseball Research. The award honors baseball's prolific researchers who made an impact on baseball and its history through research and other vital means.
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