Author: Joe Oestreich
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0762785950
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
A classic underdog story about a local band that almost hits the big time. Everyone knows the price of fame. Hitless Wonder measures the price of obscurity. What happens when you chase a dream into middle age and, in doing so, risk losing the people you love?

Author: Clay Morgan Wiilson IV
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN: 1609573862
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
Seventy year old Clay Morgan and two of his sons are taking a three thousand mile, cross country road trip mostly down Route 66, to his third son's wedding. Making a deal with their father, Dad will tell stories if they seek his favorite snack...microwave pigskins. He weaves a Christian based comic romance where a devoted Klansman and his daughter fall in love with people they shouldn't. There is a California town called Opportunity, where people are crazy about their pigs, a young pastor finds love for the first time, and lives are changed when God places a Ray Charles CD in the cafe juke box. Through it all, Dad becomes a hero when he gives a heart-felt wedding toast to the newlywed couple and influences an in-law to stand up for himself. However, he creates unforgiving enemies by expressing a negative opinion at the rehearsal dinner.

Author: Edward J. Rielly
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803290051
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Baseball: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture looks at American society through the prism of its favorite pastime, discussing not only the game itself but a variety of topics with significance beyond the diamond. Its 269 entries, which vary in length from two hundred to twenty-five hundred words, explore the game?s intersection with race, gender, art, drug abuse, entertainment, business, gambling, movies, and the shift from rural to urban society. ø Filled with larger-than-life characters, baseball legends, sports facts and firsts, important milestones, and observations about daily life and popular culture, this encyclopedia is not only an excellent reference source but also an enjoyable book to browse.

Author: David J. Gordon
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476694893
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Every serious baseball fan can attest to the perennial excellence of stars like Babe Ruth and Ken Griffey, Jr. But how many can recall the exploits of Fred Dunlap, George Stone, Bobby Shantz, or Mark Fidrych? Each of these players performed like a superstar for a single season, but none of them came close to replicating that success in subsequent years. Some achieved early success and flamed out, while others overcame early setbacks to achieve brief stardom late in their careers. Some were one-year wonders, and others sustained solid careers after setting an early standard that they would never again reach. This book contains the bittersweet stories of 30 such players who tantalized their fans with visions of greatness, but ultimately fell short.

Author: David L. Fleitz
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786417498
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
An irony of enshrinement at the baseball Hall of Fame is that it's no guarantee of lasting name recognition. The sport's history stretches too far back, as today fans scratch their heads about athletes and owners who were among the most celebrated public figures of their time. Who was more renowned than George Wright, baseball's greatest star during the transition from amateur to professional play? Who was more feared than Big Dan Brouthers? Maybe it was Amos Rusie, who threw so hard that some say the rules makers increased the pitching distance just to make things fair. Of the 256 players, managers and executives in the Hall of Fame, the names that are known well--Ty Cobb, Connie Mack, Willie Mays--account for a small minority. This book contains biographical and statistical information on 16 previously overlooked Hall of Famers, including Morgan G. Bulkeley, Candy Cummings, Roger Bresnahan, Jack Chesbro, Jesse Burkett, Kid Nichols, Bobby Wallace, John Clarkson, Elmer Flick, Eppa Rixey, Jake Beckley, Roger Connor, Vic Willis, Willie Wells, Frank Selee, and Bid McPhee. These men, selections of the oft-criticized Veterans Committee, all enjoyed remarkable careers--and were themselves remarkable stories, as the author discovered.

Author: Bert Randolph Sugar
Publisher: Running Press Adult
ISBN: 0762440139
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
What were the ten most fantastic knockouts in boxing history? Which pugilist had the greatest jab of all time? What were the sport's most intense rivalries? Who scored the biggest upsets in the sport's annals? Which fighters have the best nicknames? These questions and many others are answered in this bold collection of ranked lists from two of boxing's most popular commentators. Each list has an introductory paragraph followed by a number of ranked entries, with each entry featuring a brief explanation of ranking plus entertaining and enlightening background information. Also included are original lists contributed exclusive to this book by more than 25 top personalities from boxing and beyond, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, and more.

Author: Mike Vaccaro
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0767929683
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
In this wonderful page-turner, veteran sports journalist Mike Vaccaro brings to life a bygone era in cinematic and intimate detail—and re-creates the magic and suspense of the world’s first classic series. Despite a major presidential election, the near-assassination of Teddy Roosevelt, and the most sensational trial of the young century, baseball dominated front-page headlines in October 1912. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Giants of that year—two of the finest ball clubs that had ever been assembled—went head-to-head in a thrilling eight-game battle that ultimately elevated the World Series from a regional October novelty to a national obsession.

Author: The Society for American Baseball Research
Publisher: SABR, Inc.
ISBN: 1933599863
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 1303

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Book Description
Since 2009, The National Pastime has served as SABR's convention-focused publication. Published annually, this research journal provides in-depth articles focused on the respective geographic region where the national convention is taking place in a given year. The SABR 45 convention took place in Chicago, and here are 25 articles on baseball in and around the bat-and-ball crazed Windy City. Contents Introduction by Stuart Shea Sputtering Towards Respectability: Chicago’s Journey to the Big Leagues by Brian McKenna The Windy City – Collar City Connection:The Curious Relationship of Chicago’s and Troy (NY)’s Professional Baseball Teams (1870–82) by Jeff Laing Mike González:The First Hispanic Cub by Lou Hernández Bibb Falk: The Only Jockey in the Majors by Matthew M. Clifford Ted Lyons: 300 Wins—Closer with a Closer? by Herm Krabbenhoft Mel Almada: The First Hispanic to Homer at Several Historic American League Stadia by Lou Hernández Andy Pafko: Darling of the 1945 Cubs by Joe Niese Bill Murray’s Prediction by Rob Edelman The Top 10 Chicago White Sox Games of the 1950s by Stephen D. Boren Mr. Cub by Joseph Wancho How Good Was the White Sox’ Pitching in the 1960s? by Brendan Bingham The ’67 White Sox: “Hitless” Destiny’s Grandchild? by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte The Chicago White Sox, 1968–70: Three Years in Hell by Sam Pathy Black Sox on Film by Rob Edelman If Gil Hodges Managed the Cubs and Leo Durocher the Mets in 1969, Whose “Miracle” Would it Have Been? by Mort Zachter Split Season 1981, Chicago Style by Jeff Katz Palmer House Stars by Leslie Heaphy The Peculiar Professional Baseball Career of Eddie Gaedel by Eric Robinson When They Were Just Boys: Chicago and Youth Baseball Take Center Stage by Alan Cohen Stories of the White Sox: Farrell, Lardner, and Algren by James Hawking Curse of the Billy Goat: An Adaptive Coping Strategy for Cubs Fans by Jeremy Ashton Houska, Ph.D. Of Black Sox, Ball Yards, and Monty Stratton: Chicago Baseball Movies by Rob Edelman Memories That Will Never Go-Go by Francis Kinlaw Chicago Goes Hollywood: The Cubs, Wrigley Field, and Popular Culture by David Krell Buying the White Sox: A Comic Opera Starring Bill Veeck, Hank Greenberg, and Chuck Comiskey by John Rosengren William Hulbert: Father of Professional Sports Leagues by David Bohmer The Western Baseball Tours of 1879 by Brock Helander The Legacy of the Players League’s 1890 Chicago Pirates by Gordon Gattie There Was Almost No World Series in 1905, Too: How Charlie Comiskey Could Have Ended the Fall Classic Before it Started by Chuck Hildebrandt The Last Best Day: When Chicago Had Three First-Place Teams by Mark S. Sternman Why did Wrigley, Lasker, and the Chicago Cubs Join a Presidential Campaign? by Mark Souder Silas K. Johnson: An Illinois Farm Boy Who Made Baseball History by Matthew M. Clifford A Fall Classic Comedy, Game Six, 1945 by John Rosengren Bears, Cubs, and a Moose, Oh My by Joseph Wancho Dean of Chicanery: Jerry Reinsdorf’s Plan to Enlist Hank Greenberg to Umpire the Northwestern Law School Student-Faculty Game and How it Backfired by John Rosengren “Don’t Tell Them Any Different”: ‘Don Kessinger Night’ Caps a Long Career by Mark Randall Lasting Impressions of Harry Caray by Suzanne Wright The Game That Was Not: Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs, August 8, 1988 by Steven Glassman The Chicago History Museum’s Baseball Photo Treasure Trove: The Chicago Daily News Glass Plate Negative Collection by Mark Fimoff From the North Side to the Deep South by Francis Kinlaw

Author: Mark Reiter
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439141258
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
Edited by Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir, and featuring contributions from experts on everything from breakfast cereal and movie gunfights to First Ladies and bald guys, The Final Four of Everything celebrates everything that's great, surprising, or silly in America, using the foolproof method of bracketology to determine what we love or hate-and why. As certain to make you laugh as it will start friendly arguments, The Final Four of Everything is the perfect book for know-it-alls, know-a-littles, and anyone with an opinion on celebrity mugshots, literary heroes, sports nicknames, or bacon. Bracketology is a unique way of organizing information that dates back to the rise of the knockout (or single elimination) tournament, perhaps in medieval times. Its origins are not precisely known, but there was genius in the first bracket design that hasn't changed much over the years. You, of course, may be familiar with the bracket format via the NCAA basketball tournament pairings each March. If you've ever watched ESPN or participated in a March Madness office pool, you know what a bracket looks like. The Final Four of Everything takes the idea one step further, and applies the knockout format to every category BUT basketball. In areas where taste, judgment, and hard-earned wisdom really matter, we've set out to determine, truly, the Final Four of Everything.

Author: Charles N. Billington
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476635579
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
 Charter members of the American League and the country's last "neighborhood" pro baseball franchise, the White Sox are one of the few teams of the power hitting-focused modern era to win a pennant with speed, pitching and defense. Covering the 1959 White Sox from a range of perspectives, the author examines the club's historical importance to Chicago and the significance of the '59 "South Side Series"--the first in 40 years. Many behind-the-scenes details are discussed, from the refined media markets of Golden Age baseball to the team's ancillary sources of revenue to the bitter legal feud between Charles Comiskey and Bill Veeck.