Download or read book The Duke of Havana written by Steve Fainaru and published by Villard. This book was released on 2001-06-01 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1998, a mysterious right-handed pitcher emerged from the ashes of the Cold War and helped lead the New York Yankees to a World Championship. His origins and even his age were uncertain. His name was Orlando El Duque Hernandez. He was a fallen hero of Fidel Castro's socialist revolution. The chronicle of El Duque's triumph is at once a window into the slow death of Cuban socialism and one of the most remarkable sports stories of all time. Once hailed as a paragon of Castro's revolution, the finest pitcher in modern Cuban history was banned from baseball for life for allegedly plotting to defect. Instead of accepting his punishment, he fearlessly fought back, defying the Communist party authorities, vowing to pitch again, and ultimately fleeing his country in the bowels of a thirty-foot fishing boat. Here, for the first time and in astonishing detail, the secrets behind El Duque's persecution and escape are revealed. Moving from the crumbling streets of post Cold War Havana to the polarized world of exile Miami, from the deadly Florida Straits to the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium, it is a story of cloak-and-dagger adventure, audacious secret plots, the pull of big money, and the historic collision of ideologies. Present throughout are the larger-than-life characters who converged at this bizarre intersection of baseball and politics: El Duque himself, Fidel Castro, the Miami sports agent Joe Cubas, the late John Cardinal O'Connor along with scouts, smugglers, and the Cuban ballplayers who gave up their lives as tools of socialism to test the free market and chase their major-league dreams. Reported in the United States and Cuba by two award-winning journalists who became part of the story they were covering, The Duke of Havana is a riveting saga of sports, politics, liberation, and greed.

Download or read book Baseball s Most Baffling MVP Ballots written by Jeremy Lehrman and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From its colorful beginnings more than a century ago, baseball's annual Most Valuable Player Award has become the most prestigious (and contentious) individual honor in the sport. No accolade means more to players, fans or the media. No other award can claim a voting history so rich in alleged snubs, grudges, conspiracies and incompetence. Examining the most controversial ballots, this book attempts to settle some arguments and answer some compelling questions: Which of the so-called "worst MVPs" holds up to modern statistical analysis? Who cast the single worst vote in MVP history? Does racial bias influence the vote? Who really deserved the award in a given year?

Download or read book 20 Game Losers written by Bill Nowlin and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-09 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You have to be a very good pitcher to lose 20 games in one season. Why would a manager keep putting you out there to pitch, time after time, if you didn't have a chance to win the game? More than 25 percent of the pitchers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame are pitchers who lost 20 or more games in a single season. One of them even lost 20 or more games for 10 years in a row! The names in this book are often well-known names. Cy Young lost more than 20 games in three different seasons. Other 20-game losers were Steve Carlton, Walter Johnson, Phil Niekro, Robin Roberts, and Red Ruffing, to name a few. We've included here every one of the 23 Hall of Famers who are 20-game losers, as well as some lesser-known names, over sixty biographies in all. Mike Maroth and Brian Kingman, the two most recent pitchers to lose 20 games, are here. So is Jack Nabors thanks to his 1-20 season. You will find Guy Hecker, whose record of 52-20 constituted the best winning percentage of any 20-game loser. And we feature one woebegone pitching staff which had four 20-game losers in the same season. By our count 499 major-league pitchers have had seasons in which they lost 20 or more games. Only two of them had ERAs over 6.00. This take on pitching records offers plenty of quirks to explore. 53 members of SABR combined their efforts to create this truly fascinating book. Contents: 20-GAME LOSER, PROFILES OF THE 20-LOSS SEASONS by David E. Skelton THE VANISHING 20-GAME LOSER by Barry Mednick PITCHERS: STEVE ARLIN by Gregory H. Wolf BILL BAILEY by Eric Frost GEORGE BAUMGARDNER by Joe Schuster BOOM-BOOM BECK by Paul E. Doutrich GEORGE BELL by John Struth BILL BONHAM by Joel Rippel ED BRANDT by C. Paul Rogers III BUSTER BROWN by Mark S. Sternman HARRY BYRD by Armand Peterson GEORGE CASTER by Chris Rainey JOHN COLEMAN by Justin Mckinney CLIFF CURTIS by Alan Drude ART DITMAR by David E. Skelton GUS DORNER by Paul Hofmann CECIL FERGUSON by Jeff Findley DANA FILLINGIM by Niall Adler SAM GRAY by Gregory H. Wolf DAN GRINER by Gregory H. Wolf GUY HECKER by Bob Bailey RANDY JONES by Alan Cohen VERN KENNEDY by Joel Rippel HENRY KEUPPER by Emmet R. Nowlin BRIAN KINGMAN by Chad Moody DON LARSEN by Charles F. Faber MIKE MAROTH by Barbara Mantegani and Dave Raglin AL MATTERN by Bob LeMoine JIM MCCORMICK by Chris Rainey STONEY MCGLYNN by Steve Schmitt HARRY MCINTIRE by John Struth JACK NABORS by Stephen V. Rice ROLLIE NAYLOR by Phil Williams SUNNY JIM PASTORIUS by Glen Sparks ORLANDO PENA by Joel Rippel SCOTT PERRY by Phil Williams FRED SANFORD by Warren Corbett JACK SCOTT by Skip Nipper GEORGE ALLEN SMITH by Jeff English JIM TOBIN by Gregory H. Wolf CLYDE WRIGHT by Paul E. Doutrich HALL OF FAMERS: 20-GAME LOSERS POPULATE THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME by Bill Nowlin STEVE CARLTON by Cosme Vivanco JACK CHESBRO by Wayne McElreavy JOHN CLARKSON by Brian McKenna CANDY CUMMINGS by David Fleitz PUD GALVIN by Charles Hausberg JESSE HAINES by Gregory H. Wolf WALTER JOHNSON by Charles Carey TIM KEEFE by Charlie Bevis TED LYONS by Warren Corbett RUBE MARQUARD by Joe Wancho JOE MCGINNITY by Don Doxsie PHIL NIEKRO by Tom Hufford HANK O'DAY by Dennis Bingham OLD HOSS RADBOURN by Brian McKenna EPPA RIXEY by Jan Finkel ROBIN ROBERTS by C. Paul Rogers III RED RUFFING by Warren Corbett AMOS RUSIE by Charles F. Faber ED WALSH by Stuart Schimler JOHN MONTGOMERY WARD by Bill Lamb MICKEY WELCH by Bill Lamb VIC WILLIS by Daniel R. Levitt CY YOUNG by Bill Nowlin and David Southwick A STAFF WITH FOUR 20-GAME LOSERS by Bill Nowlin CHICK FRASER by Mike Lynch KAISER WILHELM by Gregory H. Wolf VIC WILLIS by Daniel R. Levitt IRV YOUNG by Will Anderson and Bill Nowlin 20-GAME LOSERS IN THE MINOR LEAGUES by Bill Nowlin CHRIS ARCHER - NEARLY A 20-GAME LOSER IN 2016 by Bill Nowlin THE PROTECTION MYTH by Warren Corbett

Download or read book HItting Low in the Zone written by Homer Bush and published by . This book was released on 2015-06-15 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Former MLB player Homer Bush shares his observations and takeaways from behind the plate in his new book, "Hitting Low in the Zone". These formulas and the strategies therein can be applied to a batter's game for consistent hitting results.

Download or read book Where I m from written by Steven Borsman and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the Fall of 2010 I gave an assignment in my Appalachian Literature class at Berea College, telling my students to write their own version of "Where I'm From" poem based on the writing prompt and poem by George Ella Lyon, one of the preeminent Appalachian poets. I was so impressed by the results of the assignment that I felt the poems needed to be preserved in a bound document. Thus, this little book. These students completely captured the complexities of this region and their poems contain all the joys and sorrows of living in Appalachia. I am proud that they were my students and I am very proud that together we produced this record of contemporary Appalachian Life" -- Silas House

Download or read book Sport Marketing written by Windy Dees and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2021-03-12 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book helps students prepare for careers in the fast-paced world of sport marketing, as well as provides a resource for practitioners looking for the latest information in the field. The book offers abundant examples of the latest issues in the competitive marketplace"--

Download or read book Welcome to the Terrordome The Pain Politics and Promise of Sports written by Dave Zirin and published by Haymarket Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zirin widens his remit to take a hard look at the trends now shaping sports in the United States and abroad, including an analysis of the 2006 World Cup.

Download or read book Into the Storm written by Tom Clancy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-05-01 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his brilliant, bestselling novels, Tom Clancy has explored the most timely military and security issues of our generation. Now he takes readers deep into the operational art of war with this insightful look at one of the greatest American military triumphs since World War II: the Gulf War.

Download or read book In the Game written by Amy Bass and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2005-08-20 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Talking about race and sports almost always leads to trouble. Rush Limbaugh's stint as an NFL commentator came to an abrupt end when he made off-handed comments about black quarterback Donovan McNabb. Cincinnati Reds' owner Marge Schott and CBS commentator Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder also landed in hot water for public remarks that most people construed as racist. Ask a simple question along these lines--"Why do African Americans dominate the NBA?"--and watch the sparks fly. It is precisely this flashpoint that Amy Bass seeks to explore. Sports wield a tremendous amount of cultural power in the United States and around the world, and often influence our ideas about race. In the Game is a collection of essays by top thinkers on race that survey this treacherous terrain. They engage topics like boxer Joe Louis's iconic status during the Jim Crow era, how blacks shaped the NFL in the 1970s, American Indian sports team mascots, and soccer in Argentina.

Download or read book The Last Folk Hero written by Jeff Pearlman and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 774 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller • The ultimate gift for sports lovers By the author of Showtime—the source for HBO’s Winning Time—the definitive biography of mythic multi-sport star Bo Jackson. “A legendary tome on a legendary athlete." —Chris Herring, author of Blood in the Garden From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. Stadiums struggled to contain him. Clocks failed to capture his speed. His strength was legendary. His power unmatched. Video game makers turned him into an invincible character—and they were dead-on. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat. He became the first person to simultaneously star in two major professional sports, and overtook Michael Jordan as America’s most recognizable pitchman. He was on our televisions, in our magazines, plastered across billboards. He was half man, half myth. Then, almost overnight, he was gone. He was Bo Jackson. Drawing on an astonishing 720 original interviews, New York Times bestselling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman captures as never before the elusive truth about Jackson, Auburn University’s transcendent Heisman Trophy winner, superstar of both the NFL and Major League Baseball and ubiquitous “Bo Knows” Nike pitchman. Did Bo really jump over a parked Volkswagen? (Yes.) Did he actually run a 4.13 40? (Yes.) During the 1991 flight that nearly killed every member of the Chicago White Sox, was he in the cockpit trying to help? (Oddly, yes. Or no. Or … maybe.) Bo Jackson isn’t Jim Thorpe. He’s not Deion Sanders, either. No, Bo Jackson is Paul Bunyan. The Last Folk Hero is the true tale of Bo Jackson that only “master storyteller” (NPR.org) Jeff Pearlman could tell.

Download or read book The Last Yankee written by Society for American Baseball Research (Sabr) and published by . This book was released on 1999-01-30 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of articles, essays, statistics, and lore on the game of baseball.

Download or read book Puerto Rico s Winter League written by Thomas E. Van Hyning and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2004-04-05 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its inception in 1938, the Liga de Beisbol Professional de Puerto Rico has launched the careers of numerous island players, including Ruben Gomez, Jerry Morales, Orlando Cepeda, Vic Power, Ruben Sierra and the greatest of all Puerto Rican stars, Roberto Clemente. For many "imports," the league has been a stepping stone to major league stardom. In its early years, many of the league's stars came from the Negro Leagues: Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Monte Irvin and Roy Campanella were just a few of the African American stars who graced the Puerto Rican diamonds in the 1940s and early 1950s. The Santurce outfield of 1954 featured one of the finest outfields in baseball history: Clemente, Willie Mays, and Puerto Rican star Bob Thurman. Through the mid-1980s, many major league teams sent their up-and-coming stars to Puerto Rico for a final bit of seasoning--Cal Ripken, Jr., Tony Gwynn, Johnny Bench, Rickey Henderson, Phil Niekro, Hank Aaron and Robin Yount were among them. They played for such future league big league managers as Frank Robinson, Jim Fregosi and Kevin Kennedy, while the balls and strikes were called by Nestor Chylak, Doug Harvey, Dale Ford and many other future major league umpires.

Download or read book Beyond Broadway Joe written by Bob Lederer and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A celebration of the Jets’ 1968 historic Super Bowl team, filled with exclusive insights and stories from the surviving players, coaches, and management In 1968, Joe Namath, the quarterback of the New York Jets, dominated the headlines as a national celebrity and counterculture figure. The Jets were a vastly talented but underappreciated team that drew constant attention due to Namath, but were not taken seriously by fans. When the Jets earned their way to Super Bowl III to face an eighteen-point favorite Baltimore Colts squad, Namath put all the pressure on himself by shockingly “guaranteeing” a Jets victory. He fulfilled his promise, but knew he didn’t do it alone. As Broadway Joe said in the postgame locker room: “We’ve got the team, brother.” In Beyond Broadway Joe: The Super Bowl TEAM That Changed Football, thirty-six surviving members of that legendary 1968 team share for the first time their funny, poignant, and insightful personal stories about their Super Bowl teammates and coaches, and the historic win that changed football forever. Readers will learn what Namath’s teammates thought about his “guarantee,” find out what Jets coaches discovered on the field early during Super Bowl III that Namath and the defense used to frustrate the Colts, and delight in how the thirty-nine Jets who took the field each week with Namath enabled him to live up to his Super Bowl vow. Author Bob Lederer reviews head coach Weeb Ewbank’s never-before-seen player evaluations—that they didn’t know existed—and provides a rich history of the Jets franchise, from how these thirty-nine forgotten players became Jets, and the road ten of them took to become AFL all-stars in 1968. This definitive review of the entire Jets’ Super Bowl team is a must for every Jets diehard, for fans of the old American Football League, and for all who love the game.

Download or read book America s National Game written by Albert G. Spalding and published by Jazzybee Verlag. This book was released on 2020-09-14 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is in great demand by baseball enthusiasts. Having been connected with every department of the game from player to magnate, Mr. Spalding has contributed a very important work to the game's history. As the invincible pitcher of the Boston Club, previous to the formation of the National League, his book of so many pages is an interesting record of events dating from the beginning of the great American pastime. It is not exactly a history of the game, but deals largely with incidents during the author's career, who was a player in the late 1860s and early 1870s, and helped organize the National League in 1876. One chapter, devoted to sundry topics, gives an account of the sale of the immortal "King Kelly," the original "$10,000 beauty," by Chicago to the Boston Club in the late 1880s. Other Chapters are devoted to the literature of the game, quoting several instances of the baseball paragrapher's art and also specimens of the distinct poetry of the pastime, of which "Casey at the Bat" is probably the most widely known. The Cincinnati Red Stockings Mr. Spalding gives credit as being the pioneer professional organization. It was not, however, until 1871 that professional baseball playing, as recognized today, was instituted. Mr. Spalding shows how cricket could not do for Americans. He says it is suitable for the British temperament, but not for the Yankee hustling spirit. He also tells how he worked into the game through a one-handed catch when a small boy. To lovers of baseball, whose name is legion, and whose number increases yearly, this book comprises in itself a whole library of useful information.

Download or read book The Santurce Crabbers written by Thomas E. Van Hyning and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2008-09-09 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first owner of the Santurce Crabbers, Pedrin Zorrilla, was a visionary, with many Negro League and big league contacts (he signed up Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Ray Dandridge and Leon Day in the first decade). Santurce was the most successful winter league team of the 1950s, with three Caribbean Series titles. Roberto Clemente, Ruben Gomez, Willie Mays, Willard Brown and Bob Thurman played for the Crabbers. Tom Lasorda used to pitch for them. Santurce set up working agreements with the Giants, Orioles, Dodgers and Astros, among other teams. Earl Weaver and Frank Robinson were team managers; several Hall of Famers were early-career Crabbers. Orlando Cepeda and Tony (Tany) Perez played their entire winter league careers with Santurce.

Download or read book The Book written by and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2007 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baseball "by The Book."

Download or read book Fair and Foul written by D. Stanley Eitzen and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explains America's love of sport just as it reveals sport's darker side--the influence of big business, corruption, price gouging, political maneuvering, and media grandstanding. Visit our website for sample chapters!