Wrigley Field's Last World Series

Wrigley Field's Last World Series PDF Author: Charles N. Billington
Publisher: Lake Claremont Press
ISBN: 9781893121454
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
On the eve of World War II, baseball truly was America's national pastime. Little could anyone predict the changes and sacrifices that would be imposed on the sport during the early 1940s. As the war was coming to an end in 1945 and a jubilant mood was overtaking the country, baseball was back in full swing and the Chicago Cubs were on top of their game. How did the Cubs clinch the pennant in 1945 and go to the World Series? Simply, they fielded, hit, and pitched better than any other team in the league. How did they then lose the championship to the Detroit Tigers, a team with one of the most mediocre records in pennant history? And why haven't they been back since? Billington's fast-paced narrative of this historic season includes an inning-by-inning account of critical games, highlights of winning streaks and road trips, and a discussion of how and why the team ultimately unravels. Incorporating statistical analysis, descriptions of key teams, and player biographies, Billington paints an evolving and exciting portrait of the 1945 Cubs and the wider national baseball scene of a war-torn era. I don't care who wins, as long as it's the Cubs!—legendary announcer, Bert Wilson, WIND On the eve of World War II, baseball truly was America's national pastime. Little could anyone predict the changes and sacrifices that would be imposed on the sport during the early 1940s. As the war was coming to an end in 1945 and a jubilant mood was overtaking the country, baseball was back in full swing and the Chicago Cubs were on top of their game. How did the Cubs clinch the pennant in 1945 and go to the World Series? Simply, they fielded, hit, and pitched better than any other team in the league. How did they then lose the championship to the Detroit Tigers, a team with one of the most mediocre records in pennant history? And why haven't they been back since? One thing is clear: 1945, the last time the Cubs went to the World Series, was a turning point in the team's fortune. For in the first half of the twentieth century, few teams were as good as Chicago; in the second half, few teams were as bad. Between 1900 and 1945 the Chicago Cubs won the National League pennant ten times and had more first division finishes than any other team in the league and only one last-place finish. Between 1946 and 1990, the Chicago Cubs finished in the National League basement nine times, and went 20 consecutive seasons in the second division between 1947 and 1966. Charles N. Billington's fast-paced narrative of this historic season includes an inning-by-inning account of critical games, highlights of winning streaks and road trips, and a discussion of how and why the team ultimately unravels. Incorporating statistical analysis, descriptions of key teams, and player biographies, Billington paints an evolving and exciting portrait of the 1945 Cubs and the wider national baseball scene of a war-torn era.

Wrigley Field's Last World Series

Wrigley Field's Last World Series PDF Author: Charles N. Billington
Publisher: Lake Claremont Press
ISBN: 9781893121454
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book Here

Book Description
On the eve of World War II, baseball truly was America's national pastime. Little could anyone predict the changes and sacrifices that would be imposed on the sport during the early 1940s. As the war was coming to an end in 1945 and a jubilant mood was overtaking the country, baseball was back in full swing and the Chicago Cubs were on top of their game. How did the Cubs clinch the pennant in 1945 and go to the World Series? Simply, they fielded, hit, and pitched better than any other team in the league. How did they then lose the championship to the Detroit Tigers, a team with one of the most mediocre records in pennant history? And why haven't they been back since? Billington's fast-paced narrative of this historic season includes an inning-by-inning account of critical games, highlights of winning streaks and road trips, and a discussion of how and why the team ultimately unravels. Incorporating statistical analysis, descriptions of key teams, and player biographies, Billington paints an evolving and exciting portrait of the 1945 Cubs and the wider national baseball scene of a war-torn era. I don't care who wins, as long as it's the Cubs!—legendary announcer, Bert Wilson, WIND On the eve of World War II, baseball truly was America's national pastime. Little could anyone predict the changes and sacrifices that would be imposed on the sport during the early 1940s. As the war was coming to an end in 1945 and a jubilant mood was overtaking the country, baseball was back in full swing and the Chicago Cubs were on top of their game. How did the Cubs clinch the pennant in 1945 and go to the World Series? Simply, they fielded, hit, and pitched better than any other team in the league. How did they then lose the championship to the Detroit Tigers, a team with one of the most mediocre records in pennant history? And why haven't they been back since? One thing is clear: 1945, the last time the Cubs went to the World Series, was a turning point in the team's fortune. For in the first half of the twentieth century, few teams were as good as Chicago; in the second half, few teams were as bad. Between 1900 and 1945 the Chicago Cubs won the National League pennant ten times and had more first division finishes than any other team in the league and only one last-place finish. Between 1946 and 1990, the Chicago Cubs finished in the National League basement nine times, and went 20 consecutive seasons in the second division between 1947 and 1966. Charles N. Billington's fast-paced narrative of this historic season includes an inning-by-inning account of critical games, highlights of winning streaks and road trips, and a discussion of how and why the team ultimately unravels. Incorporating statistical analysis, descriptions of key teams, and player biographies, Billington paints an evolving and exciting portrait of the 1945 Cubs and the wider national baseball scene of a war-torn era.

Won for the Ages

Won for the Ages PDF Author: Chicago Tribune
Publisher: Triumph Books
ISBN: 163319809X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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Book Description
It has been called the last great American sports story, a quest that has spanned more than a century and captivated millions of fans. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs were at last baseball's champions, breaking the Curse of the Billy Goat and shedding the label of "lovable losers" once and for all. Led by manager Joe Maddon and built around rising stars Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs brought the Fall Classic back to the ivy-covered confines of Wrigley Field for the first time since 1945 and won the franchise's first championship since 1908 in unforgettable fashion. Re-live the Cubs' magical postseason run with Won for the Ages. This photo-packed collection of memories, stories and player profiles produced by the staff of the Chicago Tribune is the perfect look back at the sweet '16 season.

Wrigley Field Year by Year

Wrigley Field Year by Year PDF Author: Sam Pathy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1683582977
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 1118

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Book Description
More than just a lavishly illustrated and highly readable book, Wrigley Field Year by Year, originally published in 2014 and updated through the 2018 season, is the result of a quarter century of meticulous research. Written by a baseball historian and recognized authority on the “Friendly Confines,” this is the first book to detail each year of the storied park’s existence. The book covers not only the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Federal League baseball teams in detail, it touches on the Chicago Bears football team, basketball, hockey, high school sports, track and field, and political rallies. It references activities and changes throughout the park and in its neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. In addition to pertinent Cubs statistics, the author’s year-by-year coverage includes: A “game of the year” A description of unusual and interesting happenings in the ballpark A quote from the year that best captures its essence Supplementing the year-by-year approach are nine chapters that divide Wrigley Field’s rich history into nine “innings” along with informative appendixes that will delight every Cubs fan, from the casual to the obsessed. The book’s easy-to-use format and wealth of information make it a resource that readers will turn to again and again.

Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field PDF Author: Ira Berkow
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 9781584799153
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This stunning tribute to "the one and only," written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ira Berkow, is timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field in 2014. Wrigley Field brilliantly and beautifully documents the stadium's entire career through a decade-by-decade account, a priceless collection of historical photographs and memorabilia, and vivid first-person reminiscences of the people to whom this great place has meant so much. Notable fans interviewed for this book include Barack Obama, Scott Turow, Joe Mantegna, Sara Paretsky, Jim Bouton, and George F. Will, among others. Rounded out by a foreword by former player Kerry Wood and an afterword by associate justice John Paul Stevens, this is a book that no Cubs fan--and no baseball fan--will be able to resist.

Wrigleyworld

Wrigleyworld PDF Author: Kevin Kaduk
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101210877
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
In 2016 the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series after a 108 year losing streak. But before that, "never say die” was a way of life for Cubs fans, including sportswriter Kevin Kaduk... In the summer 2005 season, in a fit of nostalgic, heartfelt (and possibly insane) loyalty to his “Lovable Losers,” Kevin quit his job as a sportswriter in Kansas City and moved back to the Windy City on a quest to find the heart and soul of what has come to be known as “Wrigleyville.” As Kevin searched for answers, he found one hell of a good time. In this rollicking exploration of baseball and blind faith, he weaves a riveting tale of the team that stole his heart—and the life of the neighborhood surrounding baseball’s most historic ballpark. He takes us from the famed ivy-fronted bleachers in Wrigley Field to the full-blast party atmosphere that vibrates through the surrounding blocks every game day. He visits the rooftops across the street from the field where the beer is ice cold and the bratwurst never stops coming and explores the depths of Wrigleyville’s bar scene, where raucous celebration and heartrending commiseration are all too common. So crack open a cold one, and get ready to experience the true adventures of Kevin Kaduk—a man who took himself out to the ballgame, bought himself some peanuts and Cracker-Jack...and never came back.

The Cubs Way

The Cubs Way PDF Author: Tom Verducci
Publisher:
ISBN: 0804190011
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
-With inside access and reporting, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer and FOX Sports analyst Tom Verducci reveals how Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon built, led, and inspired the Chicago Cubs team that broke the longest championship drought in sports, chronicling their epic journey to become World Series champions---

Mr. Wrigley's Ball Club

Mr. Wrigley's Ball Club PDF Author: Roberts Ehrgott
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 080326478X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 511

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Book Description
Chicago in the Roaring Twenties was a city of immigrants, mobsters, and flappers with one shared passion: the Chicago Cubs. It all began when the chewing-gum tycoon William Wrigley decided to build the world’s greatest ball club in the nation’s Second City. In this Jazz Age center, the maverick Wrigley exploited the revolutionary technology of broadcasting to attract eager throngs of women to his renovated ballpark. Mr. Wrigley’s Ball Club transports us to this heady era of baseball history and introduces the team at its crazy heart—an amalgam of rakes, pranksters, schemers, and choirboys who take center stage in memorable successes, equally memorable disasters, and shadowy intrigue. Readers take front-row seats to meet Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rogers Hornsby, Joe McCarthy, Lewis “Hack” Wilson, Gabby Hartnett. The cast of characters also includes their colorful if less-extolled teammates and the Cubs’ nemesis, Babe Ruth, who terminates the ambitions of Mr. Wrigley’s ball club with one emphatic swing.

The Original Curse: Did the Cubs Throw the 1918 World Series to Babe Ruth's Red Sox and Incite the Black Sox Scandal?

The Original Curse: Did the Cubs Throw the 1918 World Series to Babe Ruth's Red Sox and Incite the Black Sox Scandal? PDF Author: Sean Deveney
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071633855
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
IN THE GRAND TRADITION OF EIGHT MEN OUT . . . the untold story of baseball’s ORIGINAL SCANDAL Did the Chicago Cubs throw the World Series in 1918—and get away with it? Who were the players involved—and why did they do it? Were gambling and corruption more widespread across the leagues than previously believed? Were the players and teams “cursed” by their actions? Finally, is it time to rewrite baseball history? With exclusive access to surprising new evidence, Sporting News reporter Sean Deveney details a scandal at the core of baseball’s greatest folklore—in a golden era as exciting and controversial as our sports world today. This inside look at the pivotal year of 1918 proves that baseball has always been a game overrun with colorful characters, intense human drama, and explosive controversy. "The Original Curse is not just about baseball. It is a sweeping portrait of America at war in 1918. . . . In the end, the proper question is not, ‘How could a player from that era fix the World Series?’ It’s, ‘How could he not?’” —Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports, from the Introduction "Sean Deveney plays connect-the-dots in this intriguing account of a possible conspiracy to throw the 1918 World Series. Thoroughly researched and well written, The Original Curse is a must-read for baseball fans and anyone who loves a good mystery. Is Max Flack the Shoeless Joe of the 1918 Cubs? Deveney lays out the case and let's readers decide if the fix was in." —Paul Sullivan, Cubs beat writer, Chicago Tribune "This book gives the reader a fun and honest look at baseball as it used to be-- the good guys, the gamblers, the cheaters, the drunks, the inept leaders. But, more than that, it puts those characters into the context of Chicago, Boston and America at the time of World War I, and you wind up with a unique way to explain the motivations of those characters." —David Kaplan, host, Chicago Tribune Live and WGN's Sports Central “Deveney’s painstaking study of the 1918 World Series between the Cubs and Red Sox argues that the Black Sox scandal was not an aberration and might have had an antecedent. Deveney’s scholarship does not detract from his ability to spin a good tale: his tendency to imagine players’ conversations will remind readers of Leigh Montville’s The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth.... A welcome companion to Susan Dellinger’s Red Legs and Black Sox: Edd Roush and the Untold Story of the 1919 World Series, Deveney’s book contributes greatly to our understanding of this decisive period in baseball and American morals." —Library Journal

Ten Innings at Wrigley

Ten Innings at Wrigley PDF Author: Kevin Cook
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 1250182034
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
The dramatic story of a legendary 1979 slugfest between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies, full of runs, hits, and subplots, on the cusp of a new era in baseball history It was a Thursday at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, mostly sunny with the wind blowing out. Nobody expected an afternoon game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs on May 17, 1979, to be much more than a lazy early-season contest matching two teams heading in opposite directions—the first-place Phillies and the Cubs, those lovable losers—until they combined for thirteen runs in the first inning. “The craziest game ever,” one player called it. “And then the second inning started.” Ten Innings at Wrigley is Kevin Cook’s vivid account of a game that could only have happened at this ballpark, in this era, with this colorful cast of heroes and heels: Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Bruce Sutter, surly slugger Dave Kingman, hustler Pete Rose, unlucky Bill Buckner, scarred Vietnam vet Garry Maddox, troubled relief pitcher Donnie Moore, clubhouse jester Tug McGraw, and two managers pulling out what was left of their hair. It was the highest-scoring ballgame in a century, and much more than that. Cook reveals the human stories behind a contest the New York Times called “the wildest in modern history” and shows how money, muscles, and modern statistics were about to change baseball forever.

The Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs PDF Author: Rich Cohen
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ISBN: 0374120927
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
After his first Cubs game when Rich Cohen was eight, his father asked him to make a promise. "Promise me you will never be a Cubs fan. The Cubs do not win," he explained, "and because of that, a Cubs fan will have a diminished life determined by low expectations. That team will screw up your life." Here he captures the story of the team, its players and crazy days-- not just what happened, but what it felt like and what it meant. He searches for the cause of the famous curse, and came to see the curse as a burden but also as a blessing.