Author: Michael J. Bielawa
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 9780738512013
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 132
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Book Description
Bridgeport, Connecticut, owns a rich and diverse baseball history. People from varied backgrounds stepped up to the plate in Bridgeport's early years-sons of Irish immigrants, laborers and merchants, Asian and Latino players, and some of the first African Americans to play professional ball. Local baseball truly blossomed with "Orator" Jim O'Rourke, who returned from the big leagues and organized the Connecticut State Baseball League in 1895. Numerous Bridgeport teams evolved, including the Victors, Mechanics, Bolts, Americans, and Bears. Bridgeport Baseball traces the game from the post-Civil War era to today. Baseball beneath the roaring smokestacks of industrial Bridgeport included visits by barnstorming Major League and Negro League teams, future Hall of Famers, and a train wreck that almost killed the St. Louis Cardinals. The smokestacks are silent now, yet the legacy of Bridgeport baseball continues to evolve with the city's first professional club in nearly half a century-the Bridgeport Bluefish. The team, owners, staff, fans, and stadium have all contributed to restoring the living history that is Bridgeport Baseball.
Author: Mike Roer
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786423552
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 342
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Book Description
As a player, manager, team captain, umpire, owner and league president, Hall of Famer Jim O'Rourke (1851-1918) spoke for the players in the emerging game of baseball. O'Rourke's career paralleled the rise of the game from a regional sport with few strategies to the national pastime. Nicknamed "Orator" for his booming voice and his championing of the rights of professional athletes, he was a driving force in making the sport a profession, bringing respectability to the role of professional baseball player. From contemporary sources, O'Rourke's own correspondence, and player files available through the National Baseball Library, a rounded portrait of Jim O'Rourke emerges. Quick to speak his mind, the outfielder played on nine pennant-winning teams, but his playing career was overshadowed by his work in organizing baseball's first union. After his playing days ended, O'Rourke attempted to establish the Connecticut League, becoming the circuit's president, secretary, and treasury. Though the league failed to fully materialize, his Bridgeport Victors did play several games and were one of the few racially integrated teams--a fact emblematic of O'Rourke's efforts to change the national pastime. In those efforts, he attempted to wrest control of the game from the owners and empower the players. A carefully researched account of O'Rourke's life and career, this biography also provides a behind-the-scenes look at the growth of the national pastime from the Civil War through the deadball era.
Author: George Curtis Waldo (Jr.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bridgeport (Conn.)
Languages : en
Pages : 890
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Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 1160
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Category : Insurance
Languages : en
Pages : 1894
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Author: Don Harrison
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1625843941
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 205
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Book Description
Whether Connecticut fans were cheering on Connecticut teams in baseballs major and minor leagues or watching their native sons participate in Americas favorite pastime all across the country, they have taken satisfaction in the contributions of the Nutmeg State. As former Commissioner of Baseball Fay Vincent notes in his foreword, Don Harrison has lovingly assembled the best selections from a lifetime spent covering Connecticuts corner of the game. Read twenty-five interviews from his own forty-three-year career and discover even older traditions that date back to Hartfords entrance into the majors in the 1870s. You might disagree with Harrisons choices for a Connecticut All-Time Teamthats half the funbut you will find it hard to resist the enthusiasm that has united so many fans of the sport.
Author: Peter Morris
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786490012
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 365
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Book Description
By 1871, the popularity of baseball had spread so thoroughly across America that one writer observed, "It is as much our national game as cricket is that of the English." While major league teams and athletes that played after this prophetic statement was made have been exhaustively documented and analyzed, those that led the game during its pioneer phase from 1850 to 1870 have received relatively little attention. In this welcome work, leading historians of early baseball provide profiles of more than fifty clubs and their players, from legendary teams such as the Red Stockings of Cincinnati and the Nationals of Washington to forgotten nines like the Pecatonica (Illinois) Base Ball Club and the Morning Star Club of St. Louis. Engaging narratives bring these long-ago clubs back to life, stimulating more research on this fascinating era and creating a standard reference source for all who study America's national pastime.
Author:
Publisher:
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Category : Clocks and watches
Languages : en
Pages : 1344
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Author: Burton A. Boxerman
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476624895
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 231
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Book Description
The New York Yankees were the strongest team in the majors from 1948 through 1960, capturing the American League Pennant 10 times and winning seven World Championships. The average fan, when asked who made the team so dominant, will mention Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford or Mickey Mantle. Some will insist manager Casey Stengel was the key. But pundits at the time, and respected historians today, consider the shy, often taciturn George Martin Weiss the real genius behind the Yankees' success. Weiss loved baseball but lacked the ability to play. He made up for it with the savvy to run a team better than his competitors. He spent more than 50 years in the game, including nearly 30 with the Yankees. Before becoming their general manager, he created their superlative farm system that supplied the club with talented players. When the Yankees retired him at 67, the newly franchised New York Mets immediately hired him to build their team. This book is the first definitive biography of Weiss, a Hall of Famer hailed for contributing "as much to baseball as any man the game could ever know."
Author: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Periodicals
Languages : en
Pages : 566
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