Lawrence Ritter

Lawrence Stanley Ritter (May 23, 1922 – February 15, 2004) was an American writer who wrote on economics and baseball

Career
Ritter was a professor of economics and finance at New York University, and was chairman of the Department of Finance at the Graduate School of Business Administration. He also edited The Journal of Finance from 1964 to 1966. In 1970, Ritter served as president of the American Finance Association.

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 75,000 mi to interview his subjects. Ritter's "Existential" style of interviewing was to allow his subjects to reminisce freely. The style included not probing or 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.

Personal life
Ritter died at age of 81 in New York City.