Baseball's Natural

Baseball's Natural PDF Author: John Theodore
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803259584
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
The most detailed account of the 1949 shooting of the former Philadelphia Phillies baseball star Eddie Waitkus by an obsessed nineteen-year-old female fan in a Chicago hotel.

Baseball's Natural

Baseball's Natural PDF Author: John Theodore
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803259584
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
The most detailed account of the 1949 shooting of the former Philadelphia Phillies baseball star Eddie Waitkus by an obsessed nineteen-year-old female fan in a Chicago hotel.

Imagining Baseball

Imagining Baseball PDF Author: David McGimpsey
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253336965
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
"... McGimpsey displays erudition, clever insights and a knack for the wickedly funny wisecrack (several of which are aimed at his beloved, and beleaguered, Montreal Expos). Literary baseball may be a drastically over-analyzed subject, but, like an overachieving rookie, McGrimpsey produces a far better book on it than one would have ever thought possible." --Louis Jacobson, Washington Post "This is the most important critical book on baseball literature in many years." --Murray Sperber, author of Onward to Victory From Field of Dreams to The Natural, from baseball cards to highbrow fiction, this book explores the place of baseball in American popular culture.

The Baseball Film

The Baseball Film PDF Author: Aaron Baker
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813596904
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Baseball has long been viewed as the Great American Pastime, so it is no surprise that the sport has inspired many Hollywood films and television series. But how do these works depict the game, its players, fans, and place in American society? This study offers an extensive look at nearly one hundred years of baseball-themed movies, documentaries, and TV shows. Film and sports scholar Aaron Baker examines works like A League of their Own (1992) and Sugar (2008), which dramatize the underrepresented contributions of female and immigrant players, alongside classic baseball movies like The Natural that are full of nostalgia for a time when native-born white men could use the game to achieve the American dream. He further explores how biopics have both mythologized and demystified such legendary figures as Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson and Fernando Valenzuela. The Baseball Film charts the variety of ways that Hollywood presents the game as integral to American life, whether showing little league as a site of parent-child bonding or depicting fans’ lifelong love affairs with their home teams. Covering everything from Bull Durham (1988) to The Bad News Bears (1976), this book offers an essential look at one of the most cinematic of all sports.

"Swish" Nicholson

Author: Robert A. Greenberg
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786483601
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
This is the first biography of Bill "Swish" Nicholson, a Cubs favorite and baseball's top slugger during the World War II era. Only days out of college in 1936, Nicholson went straight to the majors, putting in a brief appearance for Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's before he was optioned to the minors. His contract eventually purchased by the Cubs, Nicholson spent 10 years on the North Side of Chicago, where he would claim National League home run and RBI titles twice, earn spots on five National League All-Star teams, and play a pivotal role on the pennant-winning club of 1945. After Nicholson was traded to the Phillies, amid the dissenting cries of Cubs fans, he helped the 1950 Whiz Kids to the National League title with two dramatic pinch-hit home runs. This balanced, carefully researched biography covers Nicholson's life early and late, thoroughly describes his legendary feats of slugging, and gauges his accomplishments in light of the era in which played.

Reel Baseball

Reel Baseball PDF Author: Stephen C. Wood
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786413898
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Not only are movies and baseball two of America's favorite pastimes, they are integral parts of our culture. Small wonder that the two frequently merge in Hollywood's use of baseball themes, jargon, and icons. This work on baseball in the movies is organized into four sections examining different aspects of the cultural intersection between film and baseball. In the first three sections--"Baseball in Baseball Films," "Babe Ruth and the Silver Screen," and "Baseball in Non-Baseball Films"--essays by scholars in various disciplines cover such topics as symbols, the role of family, baseball as a facilitator of violence, and the American mythos. The fourth section consists of interviews with directors (such as Ron Shelton and Penny Marshall), actors (Kevin Costner, James Belushi), and baseball personnel (broadcaster Vin Scully, coach Rod Dedeaux) who have worked in baseball films. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Baseball and Rhetorics of Purity

Baseball and Rhetorics of Purity PDF Author: Michael L. Butterworth
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817317104
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Butterworth argues that baseball cannot be viewed as an innocent diversion or escape and that by promoting myths of citizenship and purity, post-9/11 discourse concerning baseball ironically threatens the health of the democratic system. Instead, he highlights how the game on the field reflects a more complex and diverse worldview, and he makes a plea for the game's recovery, both as a national pastime and as a site for celebrating the best of who we are and who we can be. --Book Jacket.

How to Become a Professional Baseball Player

How to Become a Professional Baseball Player PDF Author: Bo Durkac
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786480483
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
The way to becoming a professional ballplayer is not an easy one. So many factors are out of a player's control. He must concern himself with the things he can control and the things he can do to improve his play, and thus give himself at least the chance to succeed. The author of this work draws from his personal experiences and his former teammates' experiences to help the average player make the most of the talent he has and to make smart decisions on and off the field. The book covers the fundamentals and finer points of pitching, fielding, hitting, catching, base running, and playing the outfield. It also covers strength training and conditioning, the importance of good grades to high school and college baseball, catching the attention of coaches and scouts, selecting the right college, playing at the college level, dealing with coaches, parental involvement and support, the draft, and the world of professional baseball.

The Cambridge Companion to Baseball

The Cambridge Companion to Baseball PDF Author: Leonard Cassuto
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521761824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
From Babe Ruth to the Black Sox scandal, this Companion examines baseball's history, global identity, current challenges and memorable personalities.

Baseball's Comeback Players

Baseball's Comeback Players PDF Author: Rick Swaine
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786476540
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
This book profiles forty major league ballplayers who engineered remarkable comebacks to salvage fading careers. Details of each comeback is provided along with a summary of the player's career. The comeback players range from Hall of Famers like Ted Williams and Stan Musial; to near-greats like Tommy John and Luis Tiant; to journeyman performers like George McQuinn and Tony Cuccinello. In the absence of statistical standards to evaluate or even define comebacks, the selection of the top comeback players was based on the following criteria: historical significance, uniqueness, dramatic content, degree of difficulty, and the player's overall reputation and standing.

Women Characters in Baseball Literature

Women Characters in Baseball Literature PDF Author: Kathleen Sullivan
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 078648439X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
Since the early 20th century, American writers have both recorded and fictionalized the real-life activities of great athletes, as well as created original characters for sports stories. How have women fared in this literature? Women Characters in Baseball Literature is the first comprehensive evaluation of the women characters of baseball literature, including women’s crucial roles on and off the field of play. Applying several feminist theories and examining the works in the context of both myth and psychology, the author discusses baseball fiction written by both men and women. Among the topics discussed are the literary implications of motherhood; how patterns of behavior in women characters often recall Greek goddesses; and how women characters and the feminist imagination enrich the literature of this apparently masculinized sport. Authors covered include Bernard Malamud, Mark Harris, August Wilson, Lamar Herrin, Nancy Willard, Silvia Tennenbaum, Karen Joy Fowler, and others.