Author: Bruce Morgan
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786468362
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
In 1972, the Philadelphia Phillies experienced one of their worst seasons in franchise history, finishing with an abysmal 59-97 record. Yet throughout this disastrous season, Steve "Lefty" Carlton proved to be a diamond in the rough. In his first year with the club, he led the league with 27 wins, eight shutouts, and a sizzling 1.98 ERA, earning an astounding 45.8 percent of Philadelphia's wins. He also won his first Cy Young award, the first pitcher to do so with a last-place team. This work chronicles Carlton's magical season, including the Rick Wise-for-Carlton trade, his 5-1 start following the players' first-ever strike, his 15-game winning streak, and a number of memorable games along the way. Interviews with Phillies icons, Hall of Famers, and legendary sports writers add insights to this account of Carlton's remarkable achievements amidst one of the most calamitous periods in Phillies history.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 12
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Book Description
Author: George B. Kirsch
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140084925X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 167
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Book Description
During the Civil War, Americans from homefront to battlefront played baseball as never before. While soldiers slaughtered each other over the country's fate, players and fans struggled over the form of the national pastime. George Kirsch gives us a color commentary of the growth and transformation of baseball during the Civil War. He shows that the game was a vital part of the lives of many a soldier and civilian--and that baseball's popularity had everything to do with surging American nationalism. By 1860, baseball was poised to emerge as the American sport. Clubs in northeastern and a few southern cities played various forms of the game. Newspapers published statistics, and governing bodies set rules. But the Civil War years proved crucial in securing the game's place in the American heart. Soldiers with bats in their rucksacks spread baseball to training camps, war prisons, and even front lines. As nationalist fervor heightened, baseball became patriotic. Fans honored it with the title of national pastime. War metaphors were commonplace in sports reporting, and charity games were scheduled. Decades later, Union general Abner Doubleday would be credited (wrongly) with baseball's invention. The Civil War period also saw key developments in the sport itself, including the spread of the New York-style of play, the advent of revised pitching rules, and the growth of commercialism. Kirsch recounts vivid stories of great players and describes soldiers playing ball to relieve boredom. He introduces entrepreneurs who preached the gospel of baseball, boosted female attendance, and found new ways to make money. We witness bitterly contested championships that enthralled whole cities. We watch African Americans embracing baseball despite official exclusion. And we see legends spring from the pens of early sportswriters. Rich with anecdotes and surprising facts, this narrative of baseball's coming-of-age reveals the remarkable extent to which America's national pastime is bound up with the country's defining event.
Author: Dean A. Sullivan
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803259654
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Culling the most pertinent, newsworthy, and just plain curious stories from newspapers and periodicals, and putting each into context, Sullivan constructs an informative and entertaining account of Major League baseball from 1972 through 2008. The 105 essays cover key topics such as George Steinbrenner's purchase of the Yankees, the first free-agent draft, the coming of lights to Wrigley Field, the cancellation of the World Series in 1994, and the BALCO steroid probe. They also bring to light lesser-known gems like the rise of sabermetrics and the federal injunction against team owners in 1995. This book offers a you-are-there view of the events that made baseball into the game we know today.
Author: Society for American Baseball Research
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416554564
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 499
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Book Description
From the authority on baseball research and statistics comes a vast and fascinating compendium of unique baseball lists and records. The SABR Baseball List & Record Book is an expansive collection of pitching, hitting, fielding, home run, team, and rookie records not available online or in any other book. This is a treasure trove of baseball history for statistically minded baseball fans that's also packed with intriguing marginalia. For instance, on July 25, 1967, Chicago's Ken Berry ended Game Two of a doubleheader against Cleveland with a home run in the bottom of the sixteenth inning -- Chicago's second game-winning homer of the day. The comprehensive lists include Most Career Home Runs by Two Brothers (Tommie and Hank Aaron have 768), Most Seasons with 15 or More Wins (Cy Young and Greg Maddux each have 18), and Highest On Base Percentage in a Season by a Rookie (listing every rookie above .400). Unlike other record books that only list the record holders -- say, most RBI by a rookie, held by Ted Williams with 145 -- SABR details every rookie to reach 100 RBI. Other record books might note the last pitcher in each league to steal home; here SABR has included every pitcher to do it. The book also includes a number of idiosyncratic features, such as a rundown of every player who has hit a triple and then stolen home, or every reliever who has won two games in one day. Many of the lists include a comments column for key historical notes and entertaining trivia (Bob Horner hit four home runs in a 1986 game, but his team lost). This is a must-have for every fan's library. Edited by Lyle Spatz, Chairman of the Baseball Records Committee for SABR
Author: Bruce Markusen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 456
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Book Description
During the first half of the 1970's no team dominated major league baseball like the Oakland A's. Led by future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, the A's captured five consecutive division titles, three American League pennants and three World Series trophies from 1971 to 1975. Baseball's Last Dynasty recounts the history of those colorful, controversial, and highly successful teams. As only the second franchise in major league history to win three consecutive Wold Series, the A's Ruled baseball in the era prior to the advent of free agency. With the help of an astute team of scouts, owner Charlie Finely assembled a nucleus of home-grown future stars wearing Oakland's garish green and gold uniforms: Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace and Vida Blue in addition to Reggie, Rollie and Catfish. In spite of such talents, the A's struggled to surpass the level of mediocrity until the hiring of baseball's version of Vince Lombardi -- Dick Williams. A fiery disciplinarian and disciple of Branch Rickey, Williams led Oakland to a first place finish in 1971, followed by consecutive world championships in 1972 and 1973. In chronicling the team known as the "Mustache Gang" and the Swinging A's, Baseball's Last Dynasty details the many fights and arguments in the Oakland clubhouse, the many controversies as well as the departures of Williams and Hunter. In the nearly quarter of a century that has passed since the A's won their trio of titles, no team has managed to duplicate the feat. Given the instability created by free agency and the difficulty of keeping a championship team's payroll under control, no team may be able to match theaccomplishments of Charlie Finley's A's. Exhaustively researched and including recent interviews with many of the key players, Baseball's Last Dynasty brings the story of this extraordinary team to life.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Baseball
Languages : en
Pages :
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Author: Baseball Prospectus
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465008402
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 482
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Book Description
Pennant races are arguably the most important aspect of baseball. Players, teams, and franchises are all after one goal: to win the pennant and get into the post-season. But what really determines who wins? Statistical analyses of baseball abound: different ways of breaking down everyone's individual performance, from hitters and pitchers to managers and even owners. But surprisingly, team success-what makes some teams winners over an entire season-has never been looked at with the same statistical rigor. In It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over, The Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts introduce the Davenport Method of deciding which races were the most dramatic-the closest, the most volatile-and determine the ten greatest races of modern baseball history. They use these key races (and a few others) to answer the main question: What determines who wins? How important are such things as mid-season trades, how much a manager overworks his pitchers, and why teams have winning and losing streaks? Can one player carry a team? Can one bad player ruin a team? Can one bad play ruin a team's chances? This fascinating and illuminating book will change your perception of the game.
Author: Mike Shropshire
Publisher: Diversion Books
ISBN: 1626812616
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 286
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Book Description
“A funny, revealing, Ball Four–like romp through mid-seventies baseball” from the longtime sports columnist and author of The Last Real Season (Booklist). You think your team is bad? In this “disastrously hilarious” work on one of the most tortured franchises in baseball, one reporter discovers that nine innings can feel like an eternity (USA Today). In early 1973, gonzo sportswriter Mike Shropshire agreed to cover the Texas Rangers for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, not realizing that the Rangers were arguably the worst team in baseball history. Seasons in Hell is a riotous, candid, irreverent behind-the-scenes account in the tradition of The Bronx Zoo and Ball Four, following the Texas Rangers from Whitey Herzog’s reign in 1973 through Billy Martin’s tumultuous tenure. Offering wonderful perspectives on dozens of unique (and likely never-to-be-seen-again) baseball personalities, Seasons in Hell recounts some of the most extreme characters ever to play the game and brings to life the no-holds-barred culture of major league baseball in the mid-seventies. “The single funniest sports book I have ever read.”—Don Imus “The locker-room shenanigans of a lousy team of the 1970s.”—Publishers Weekly
Author: Dean A. Sullivan
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803242371
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 20
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Book Description
This compilation of 120 primary writings documents baseball’s first century, from a loosely organized village social event to the arrival of the National League. Collecting from a wide range of sources—including newspaper accounts, letters, folk poetry, songs, and annual guides—Dean A. Sullivan of Fairfax, Virginia, progresses chronologically from the earliest known baseball reference (1825) to the creation of the Doubleday Myth (1908).
