Gulas, Shuba plan book signing

YOUNGSTOWN — Greg Gulas, assistant director of student programming at Youngstown State University, and former Brooklyn Dodger George “Shotgun” Shuba, will be signing copies of the book “My Memories as a Brooklyn Dodger” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the YSU bookstore.

Shuba, a Youngstown native and a graduate of Chaney High School, played baseball professionally for the Brooklyn Dodgers and is included in Roger Kahn’s book “The Boys of Summer.”

Shuba is the man who on April 18, 1947, greeted Jackie Robinson at home plate (both were members of the Montreal Royals, the top farm team of the Dodgers at the time) after Robinson’s first hit for a team affiliated with the Major Leagues.

The gesture has become known as “A Handshake for the Century" or “The Handshake that Bridged Barriers.”

Also, Shuba is the first National Leaguer to hit a pinch-hit home run in the World Series, that coming in Game 1 of the 1953 series against the New York Yankees.

The book is 224 pages, with Kahn offering the foreword. Back cover endorsements are from Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley, former Dodger General Manager Fred Claire, former teammates Carl Erskine and Hall of Famer Duke Snider, New York Times sportswriter Dave Anderson and Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson, a teammate of Shotgun's with the Royals.