Billy and the Boys

Billy and the Boys PDF Author: L. H. Duke
Publisher: Llumina Press
ISBN: 9781605942582
Category : Baseball
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
DESTINED TO WIN? During the spring of 1956, a small-town high school baseball team in Southwest Georgia lived the impossible dream. It won game after game and advanced to the state playoffs. It was the sixth year the boys had played together, and along with Coach Billy Cox, they felt this was their year to go all the way. The time was now...now or never. But was it their destiny to win? Webster called destiny 'that which is predetermined to happen.' The boys called it 'full speed ahead and take no prisoners!' Billy and the boys complemented one another. Billy was easy going and laid back; the boys were as comfortable together as an old shoe but still had an insatiable desire for winning and a time-is-right attitude. Together they turned District 3C on its ear en route to the Georgia state playoffs. This is the story-game by game-of the season when a close-knit group of boys from the country and a God-fearing, dedicated coach defied all odds for the Georgia class C championship, in some of the greatest games in playoff history. The author was born and reared in Americus, Georgia, and was educated in local schools and colleges within the state. He served four years with the U. S. Navy during the Vietnam War aboard the anti-submarine support aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge CVS-33, Long Beach, California, and Reconnaissance Attack Squadron Three, Naval Air Station, Albany, Georgia. He is retired civil service as a configuration management specialist and mechanical engineering technician with a U. S. Marine Corps logistics base. An amateur songwriter and member of Broadcast Music Incorporated, he enjoys bluegrass music and watching the Atlanta Braves on television.

Billy and the Boys

Billy and the Boys PDF Author: L. H. Duke
Publisher: Llumina Press
ISBN: 9781605942582
Category : Baseball
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
DESTINED TO WIN? During the spring of 1956, a small-town high school baseball team in Southwest Georgia lived the impossible dream. It won game after game and advanced to the state playoffs. It was the sixth year the boys had played together, and along with Coach Billy Cox, they felt this was their year to go all the way. The time was now...now or never. But was it their destiny to win? Webster called destiny 'that which is predetermined to happen.' The boys called it 'full speed ahead and take no prisoners!' Billy and the boys complemented one another. Billy was easy going and laid back; the boys were as comfortable together as an old shoe but still had an insatiable desire for winning and a time-is-right attitude. Together they turned District 3C on its ear en route to the Georgia state playoffs. This is the story-game by game-of the season when a close-knit group of boys from the country and a God-fearing, dedicated coach defied all odds for the Georgia class C championship, in some of the greatest games in playoff history. The author was born and reared in Americus, Georgia, and was educated in local schools and colleges within the state. He served four years with the U. S. Navy during the Vietnam War aboard the anti-submarine support aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge CVS-33, Long Beach, California, and Reconnaissance Attack Squadron Three, Naval Air Station, Albany, Georgia. He is retired civil service as a configuration management specialist and mechanical engineering technician with a U. S. Marine Corps logistics base. An amateur songwriter and member of Broadcast Music Incorporated, he enjoys bluegrass music and watching the Atlanta Braves on television.

Baseball's Dead of World War II

Baseball's Dead of World War II PDF Author: Gary Bedingfield
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786458208
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
While most fans know that baseball stars Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, and Bob Feller served in the military during World War II, few can name the two major leaguers who died in action. (They were catcher Harry O'Neill and outfielder Elmer Gedeon.) Far fewer still are aware that another 125 minor league players also lost their lives during the war. This book draws on extensive research and interviews to bring their personal lives, baseball careers, and wartime service to light.

Baseball's Canadian-American League

Baseball's Canadian-American League PDF Author: David Pietrusza
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786425296
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
A Class C minor league during a turbulent 15 years: its stirring history reveals what minor league baseball—indeed, all of baseball—was experiencing. Begun in the Depression, this league saw the coming of night baseball, World War II, the prosperous postwar era, integration, competition with television, and final demise. And here are the stories of stars in the making: Bob Lemon, Tommy LeSorda, Al Rosen, Lou Burdette, Frank Malzone, Vic Raschi. Those who never made it to the majors are also presented. This book—through groundbreaking research and dozens of personal interviews—captures the essence of minor league ball in this era.

Play-by-Play

Play-by-Play PDF Author: Bill Mercer
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
ISBN: 1461734746
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Both a memoir and a "how-to" for anyone who aspires to a career in broadcast journalism, particularly sports, this book calls on Mercer's vast experience and name recognition in Texas to give an insider's view of everything from play-by-play to interviewing a celebrity athlete. Mercer began his career as the voice of professional wrestling in Dallas in the 1950s, and later went on to be a play-by-play announcer for teams ranging from the Dallas Cowboys to the Chicago White Sox, in addition to a brief "hard news" stint at the time of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas in 1963.

Baseball in Evansville

Baseball in Evansville PDF Author: Kevin Wirthwein
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439669236
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Baseball exploded in Evansville after the Civil War. Early clubs like the Resolutes, Blues, Brewers, Hoosiers and Blackbirds played, built ballparks, struggled financially and suffered scandals until the early 1900s. A near tragic event fueled the 1915 construction of Bosse Field, now the third-oldest professional ballpark in operation and the host to Major League Spring Training and the filming of A League of Their Own. After World War II, college baseball returned after lying dormant since the 1920s. In the late 1960s, a local entrepreneur attempted to build a third major league. When he failed, the city ascended to the minor leagues' highest level. Join sportswriter and Evansville native Kevin Wirthwein as he recounts baseball's illustrious history in the River City.

Baseball Under the Lights

Baseball Under the Lights PDF Author: Charlie Bevis
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147664232X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Night games transformed the business of professional baseball, as the smaller, demographically narrower audiences able to attend daytime games gave way to larger, more diversified crowds of nighttime spectators. Many ball club owners were initially conflicted about artificial lighting and later actually resisted expanding the number of night games during the sport's struggle to balance ballpark attendance and television viewership in the 1950s. This first-ever comprehensive history of night baseball examines the factors, obstacles and trends that shaped this dramatic change in both the minor and major leagues between 1930 and 1990.

Minor League Baseball

Minor League Baseball PDF Author: Frank Hoffmann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113640483X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Examine the big-league benefits of minor league baseball! The Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports examines the role played by minor league baseball in hundreds of cities and towns across the United States. Written from the unique perspective of a sociologist who also happens to be an avid baseball fan, the book looks at the contributions minor league teams make to the quality of life in their communities, creating focal points for spirit and cohesiveness while providing opportunities for interaction and entertainment. The book links theory and experience to present a “sociology of baseball” that explains the symbiotic relationship which brings people together for a common purpose—to root, root, root for the home team. From the author: Minor league baseball is played across the country in more than 100 very different communities. These communities seem to share a special bond with their teams. As with all sports teams, there is a symbiotic relationship between the team and the city or town that it represents. In the case of major league professional sports, the relationship is often fueled by economic outcomes. On the minor league level, the relationship appears to go beyond mere money and prestige. Minor league teams occupy a special place in our hearts. We are more forgiving when they lose, and extremely proud of them when they win. Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports is a detailed look at the connection between town and team, including: economic benefits (development strategies, community growth) intangible benefits (ballpark camaraderie, hometown pride) fan attachment and attendance (demographic variables, stadium accessibility, “home court advantage”) case studies of two Maryland minor-league franchises--the Class AA Bowie Baysox and the Class A Hagerstown Suns Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports also includes an introduction to the organizational structure of the minor leagues, a history of each current league, and charts and tables on attendance figures and franchise relocations. This book is essential reading for sociologists, sport sociologists/historians, academics and/or practitioners in the fields of community sociology and psychology, and of course, baseball fans.

Story of My Life

Story of My Life PDF Author: Hank Greenberg
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566638372
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Once in a great while there appears a baseball player who transcends the game and earns universal admiration from his fellow players, from fans, and from the American people. Such a man was Hank Greenberg, whose dynamic life and legendary career are among baseball's most inspiring stories. The Story of My Life tells the story of this extraordinary man in his own words, describing his childhood as the son of Eastern European immigrants in New York; his spectacular baseball career as one of the greatest home-run hitters of all time and later as a manager and owner; his heroic service in World War II; and his courageous struggle with cancer. Tall, handsome, and uncommonly good-natured, Greenberg was a secular Jew who, during a time of widespread religious bigotry in America, stood up for his beliefs. Throughout a lifetime of anti-Semitic abuse he maintained his dignity, becoming in the process a hero for Jews throughout America and the first Jewish ballplayer elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball, 2d ed.

The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball, 2d ed. PDF Author: Jonathan Fraser Light
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476617449
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 1112

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Book Description
More than any other sport, baseball has developed its own niche in America's culture and psyche. Some researchers spend years on detailed statistical analyses of minute parts of the game, while others wax poetic about its players and plays. Many trace the beginnings of the civil rights movement in part to the Major Leagues' decision to integrate, and the words and phrases of the game (for example, pinch-hitter and out in left field) have become common in our everyday language. From AARON, HENRY onward, this book covers all of what might be called the cultural aspects of baseball (as opposed to the number-rich statistical information so widely available elsewhere). Biographical sketches of all Hall of Fame players, owners, executives and umpires, as well as many of the sportswriters and broadcasters who have won the Spink and Frick awards, join entries for teams, owners, commissioners and league presidents. Advertising, agents, drafts, illegal substances, minor leagues, oldest players, perfect games, retired uniform numbers, superstitions, tripleheaders, and youngest players are among the thousands of entries herein. Most entries open with a topical quote and conclude with a brief bibliography of sources for further research. The whole work is exhaustively indexed and includes 119 photographs.

Crossing the Line

Crossing the Line PDF Author: Larry Moffi
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803283169
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
From 1947, when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, through 1959, when the Boston Red Sox became the last Major League team to integrate, more than a hundred African American baseball players crossed the color line and made it to the Major Leagues. Each of these players is profiled in this comprehensive book, which includes their statistics and capsule biographies, their triumphs and trials. Some of these players became superstars of the game and eventual Hall of Famers—Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Roy Campanella, and Bob Gibson; most were average players. All were pioneers, facing down the enormous difficulties of integrating organized baseball. The authors provide a new preface and appendix for this Bison Books edition.