Download or read book Branch Rickey in Pittsburgh written by Andrew O’Toole and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2000-08-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Branch Rickey was one of the most important and charismatic figures in all of baseball, the archetype for all general managers who would follow. His contributions to the game were both numerous and highly significant; they include the desegregation of the majors, airline travel to road games, and the innovation of the minor league "farm" system. This work focuses on Rickey's tenure as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, from 1950 through 1955. In addition to contemporary accounts, Rickey's personal correspondence and interoffice memorandums are used to document his struggle to revamp the fate of a small-market team.
Download or read book Branch Rickey written by Lee Lowenfish and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2022-08-15 with total page 605 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He was not much of a player and not much more of a manager, but by the time Branch Rickey (1881-1965) finished with baseball, he had revolutionized the sport--not just once but three times. In this definitive biography of Rickey--the man sportswriters dubbed "The Brain," "The Mahatma," and, on occasion, "El Cheapo"--Lee Lowenfish tells the full and colorful story of a life that forever changed the face of America's game. As the mastermind behind the Saint Louis Cardinals from 1917 to 1942, Rickey created the farm system, which allowed small-market clubs to compete with the rich and powerful. Under his direction in the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became truly the first "America's team." By signing Jackie Robinson and other black players, he single-handedly thrust baseball into the forefront of the civil rights movement. Lowenfish evokes the peculiarly American complex of God, family, and baseball that informed Rickey's actions and his accomplishments. His book offers an intriguing, richly detailed portrait of a man whose life is itself a crucial chapter in the history of American business, sport, and society.
Download or read book In Pursuit of Pennants written by Mark Armour and published by University of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2018-04-01 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t? General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams. Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage. Purchase the audio edition.
Download or read book Branch Rickey written by Murray Polner and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2007-04-23 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Has any sport executive had as many words written about him as Branch Rickey? A one-time catcher, Rickey managed the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals at the end of the deadball era before serving as vice president of the Dodgers and general manager of the Pirates. Possessed of one of the most creative minds in the game's long history, Rickey made early use of statistical analysis, pioneered the farm system, and pressed for the expansion of major league baseball. But he is best known for integrating organized baseball, signing Jackie Robinson to a contract at a time when the U.S. armed forces were still segregated and the Civil Rights movement was years away. A courageous move, the signing also stands as proof of Rickey's foresight; by tapping the Negro Leagues, he enlarged the pool of exploitable talent. Soon after, major league ties to the talent-rich Caribbean were strengthened, and years later scouts sign players from Asia and all over the globe. Based on nearly one hundred of interviews and vast amounts of research, including exclusive access to Rickey's own papers, Branch Rickey was originally published in 1982. It still stands as the definitive biography of the legendary executive. The McFarland edition includes updates and revisions, new photographs, a foreword by Branch B. Rickey, and a new preface.
Download or read book Branch Rickey written by Arthur William Mann and published by . This book was released on 1957 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Baseball s Great Experiment written by Jules Tygiel and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1997 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers a history of African American exclusion from baseball, and assesses the changing racial attitudes that led up to Jackie Robinson's acceptance by the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Download or read book Promises to Keep How Jackie Robinson Changed America written by Sharon Robinson and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2016-11-29 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A warm, intimate portrait of Jackie Robinson, America's sports icon, told from the unique perspective of a unique insider: his only daughter. Sharon Robinson shares memories of her famous father in this warm loving biography of the man who broke the color barrier in baseball. Jackie Robinson was an outstanding athlete, a devoted family man and a dedicated civil rights activist. The author explores the fascinating circumstances surrounding Jackie Robinson's breakthrough. She also tells the off-the-field story of Robinson's hard-won victories and the inspiring effect he had on his family, his community. . . his country! Includes never-before-published letters by Jackie Robinson, as well as photos from the Robinson family archives.
Download or read book Bottom of the Ninth written by Michael Shapiro and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-04-21 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Bottom of the Ninth, Michael Shapiro brings to life a watershed moment in baseball history, when the sport was under siege in the late 1950s "A fascinating look at an almost forgotten era . . . One of the best baseball books of recent seasons." -Cleveland Plain Dealer Shapiro reveals how the legendary executive Branch Rickey saw the game's salvation in two radical ideas: the creation of a third major league—the Continental League—and the pooling of television revenues for the benefit of all. And Shapiro captures the audacity of Casey Stengel, the manager of the Yankees, who believed that he could remake how baseball was played. The story of their ingenious schemes—and of the powerful men who tried to thwart them—is interwoven with the on-field drama of pennant races and clutch performances, culminating in the stunning climax of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, when one swing of the bat heralds baseball's eclipse as America's number-one sport.
Download or read book The Good the Bad the Ugly Pittsburgh Pirates written by John McCollister and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2008-03-01 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Genuine fans take the best team moments with the less than great, and know that the games that are best forgotten make the good moments truly shine. This monumental book of the Pittsburgh Pirates documents all the best moments and personalities in the history of the team, but also unmasks the regrettably awful and the unflinchingly ugly. In entertaining—and unsparing—fashion, this book sparkles with Pirates highlights and lowlights, from wonderful and wacky memories to the famous and infamous. Such moments include the final homerun hits of the 1960 World Series by Hal Smith and Bill Mazeroski as well as the drug scandal of the early 1980s. Whether providing fond memories, goose bumps, or laughs, this portrait of the team is sure to appeal to the fan who has been through it all.
Download or read book Branch Rickey written by Jimmy Breslin and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-03-17 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book that inspired Harrison Ford in his portrayal of Branch Rickey in the hit movie “42” The idea of integrating baseball began as a dream in the mind of Branch Rickey. In 1947, as president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he defied racism on and off the field to bring Jackie Robinson into the major leagues, changing the sport and the nation forever. Rickey's is the classic American tale of a poor boy from Ohio whose deep-seated faith and dogged work ethic took him to the pinnacle of success, earning him a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame and in history. Bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jimmy Breslin is a legend in his own right. In his inimitable anecdotal style, he provides a lively portrait of Rickey and his times, including such colorful characters as Dodgers' owner George V. McLaughlin ("dubbed George the Fifth" for his love of Scotch); diamond greats Leo Durocher, George Sisler, and Dizzy Dean; and Robinson himself, a man whose remarkable talent was equaled only by his resilience in the face of intolerance. Breslin brings to life the heady days when baseball emerged as the national pastime in this inspiring biography of a great American who remade a sport-and dreamed of remaking a country. See Branch Rickey’s life brought to the screen in the hit movie “42” in theaters everywhere now.
Download or read book Oscar Charleston written by Jeremy Beer and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2021-04 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biography of Oscar Charleston, a Negro Leagues legend and one of baseball’s greatest and most unjustifiably overlooked players.
Download or read book Sweet 60 written by Bill Nowlin and published by SABR, Inc.. This book was released on 2013-04 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sweet ’60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates is the joint product of 44 authors and editors from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) who have pooled their efforts to create a portrait of the 1960 team which pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the last 60 years. Game Seven of the 1960 World Series between the Pirates and the Yankees swung back and forth. Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning at Forbes Field, the Yankees had outscored the Pirates, 53-21, and held a 7–4 lead in the deciding game. The Pirates hadn’t won a World Championship since 1925, while the Yanks had won 17 of them in the same stretch of time, seven of the preceding 11 years. The Pirates scored five times in the bottom of the eighth and took the lead, only to cough it up in the top of the ninth. The game was tied 9–9 in the bottom of the ninth. At 3:36, Bill Mazeroski swung at Ralph Terry’s slider. As Curt Smith writes in these pages: “There goes a long drive hit deep to left field!” said Gunner. “Going back is Yogi Berra! Going back! You can kiss it good-bye!” No smooch was ever lovelier. “How did we do it, Possum? How did we do it?” Prince said finally, din all around. Woods didn’t know—only that, “I’m looking at the wildest thing since I was on Hollywood Boulevard the night World War II ended.” David had toppled Goliath. It was a blow that awakened a generation, one that millions of people saw on television, one of TV’s first iconic World Series moments.
Download or read book The Other Side of the Jackie Robinson Story written by Ed Stevens and published by Tate Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'How did you let a black man take your job?' This is the question I've been asked more times than I care to admit. And despite its inherent prejudice, its misunderstanding of history, its naivet, I'm compelled to respond. My name is Ed Stevens. In baseball circles I was known as Big Ed Stevens, and I played first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945, '46, and '47. I was the first man to be replaced by a black player in the history of Major League Baseball. This is a story about the Brooklyn Dodgers, and a secret I have kept for over fifty years. 'Ed Stevens was a good teammate and an even better friend. You will find his story very interesting. Ed found himself in a spot, and I think you will enjoy reading his account of what happened and his role in this historic transformation of baseball.' Tom Lasorda Special Advisor to the Chairman Los Angeles Dodgers Ed Stevens played first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1945-1947. After that fateful '47 season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he played from 1948-1950. After finishing out his career in Toronto, he served as a major league scout for twenty-nine years. Ed was later elected to the Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Fame, the International League Hall of Fame, and the Baton Rouge Louisiana Kids Clinic Hall of Fame, where he served for forty years as a baseball instructor along with Mel Ott, Dizzy Dean, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Mickey Mantle.
Download or read book Tales from the Pittsburgh Pirates Dugout written by John McCollister and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a love story. It’s a collection of tales about a life-long relationship between the Pittsburgh Pirates and its fans. The story of the five-time World Championship team overflows with anecdotes and illustrations that tell us a great deal about the team, about the city, and about the people who call Pittsburgh their home. In a sense, the history of the Pirates is a mirror image of the people who were schooled in the “steel-mill mentality.” The Pirates have been blessed over the past 100-plus years with a colorful cast of characters who have never been shy about revealing their true feelings. From Babe Adams to Joe Cronin to Roberto Clemente, and on to John Candelaria, Danny Murtaugh, and Willie Stargell, the players and coaches profiled share with their fans a focus on never giving up until the last out is recorded. Some stories will make readers laugh, some will bring a tear, and all are endlessly fascinating. This book is a must-have for fans of the Bucs, and fans of stellar baseball writing.
Download or read book Conspiracy of Silence written by Chris Lamb and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2021-10 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story behind the mainstream press’s efforts to preserve baseball’s color line and the efforts of Black and communist newspapers to end it.
Download or read book The Imperfect Diamond written by Lee Lowenfish and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2010-04 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the introduction of the reserve clause in 1879 to the lockout and new basic agreement of 1990, baseball players have been engaged in one of the longest and most colorful labor struggles in our nation’s history. The Imperfect Diamond tells the stories of the players and their opponents, the powerful owners: how John Montgomery Ward led the Players League Rebellion of 1890; the rise and fall of David Fultz and the Baseball Players Fraternity (1912–18); the iron-fisted regime of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis; the case of Danny Gardella vs. Happy Chandler and the blacklisting of the players who jumped to the Mexican League; the founding of the Baseball Players Association in 1953 and the tempestuous but triumphant reign of Marvin Miller; the struggles of Curt Flood, Andy Messersmith, and Dave McNally, and how they brought about the demise of the reserve clause; the unprecedented midseason strike of 1981 and the collusion cases of the late 1980s. In the epilogue for this Bison Books edition, Lee Lowenfish guides the reader through the turbulent 1990s and first decade of the twenty-first century, covering expansion teams, the monumental 1994 strike, and performance-enhancing drugs. Listed by the Society of American Baseball Research as one of the fifty essential baseball books, The Imperfect Diamond will stand for years to come as the source for the real story behind America’s national pastime.
Download or read book Branch Rickey written by Murray Polner and published by Atheneum Books. This book was released on 1982 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Has any sport executive had as many words written about him as Branch Rickey? A one-time catcher, Rickey managed the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals at the end of the deadball era before serving as vice president of the Dodgers and general manager of the Pirates. Possessed of one of the most creative minds in the game's long history, Rickey made early use of statistical analysis, pioneered the farm system, and pressed for the expansion of major league baseball. But he is best known for integrating organized baseball, signing Jackie Robinson to a contract at a time when the U.S. armed forces were still segregated and the Civil Rights movement was years away. A courageous move, the signing also stands as proof of Rickey's foresight; by tapping the Negro Leagues, he enlarged the pool of exploitable talent. Soon after, major league ties to the talent-rich Caribbean were cinched up, and years later scouts sign players from Asia and all over the globe. Based on nearly one hundred of interviews and vast amounts of research, including exclusive access to Rickey's own papers, Branch Rickey was originally published in 1982. It still stands as the definitive biography of the legendary executive. The McFarland edition includes updates and revisions, new photographs, a foreword by Branch B. Rickey, and a new preface.
