Download or read book Nine Sides of the Diamond written by David Falkner and published by Touchstone. This book was released on 1992 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Falkner fields many fascinating questions in an entertaining position-by-position look at baseball's great defensive stars, from Honus Wagner to Ryne Sandberg, Willie Mays to Ozzie Smith. The author of The Last Yankee supplements his observations with the players' own descriptions of their techniques. 34 photographs.
Download or read book A Game of Inches written by Peter Morris and published by Ivan R. Dee. This book was released on 2006-03-23 with total page 663 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating and charming encyclopedic collection of baseball firsts, describing how the innovations in the game—in rules, equipment, styles of play, strategies, etc.—occurred and developed from its origins to the present day. The book relies heavily on quotations from contemporary sources.
Download or read book The Minors written by Neil J. Sullivan and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1990-03-15 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This impressive history of baseball in the smaller towns and cities of the U.S. is divided into three sections. The first covers the years from 1877 to 1920, when the modern game was evolving and the general outlines of major and minor leagues were taking shape; the second treats the period from 1920 to 1950, the golden age of the minors; the third is devoted to the expansion of the majors and the rise of television, both of which all but destroyed the minors, reducing the number of leagues from 59 to 21.
Download or read book Baseball s Top 10 written by Robert Kuenster and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparing major league players has always been a popular topic among baseball fans. Debating the strengths and weaknesses of such greats as Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, or Tom Seaver and Greg Maddux continues to stir up controversy among fans eager to champion their heroes. In Baseball’s Top 10, Bob Kuenster has compiled a ranking of the game’s best players by position, highlighting the achievements of nearly 300 individuals. In addition to the top 10, Kuenster includes Honorable Mentions—players who were considered but didn’t make the final list—and Dishonorable Mentions—players who were left off the rankings due to alleged steroid and performance enhancing drug use. Drawing upon original interviews conducted by the author, this ranking reveals the best players in major league history as seen through the eyes of former players, managers, and announcers. Player entries include biographical information, individual achievements, stats, and quotes. Organized by position—first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field, right field, catcher, designated hitters, multi-position players, right-handed starting pitchers, left-handed starting pitchers, and closers—280 outstanding players made the cut as the most elite pitchers, hitters, and fielders in MLB history. Baseball’s Top 10 features interviews with some of baseball’s greatest personalities—including players who have since passed, such as Al Lopez, Bob Feller, Stan Musial, Lou Boudreau, Andy Pafko, Ron Santo, Harry Caray and Harry Kalas. With over 50 photographs and a comprehensive list of suggested titles for further reading, this book is sure to interest baseball fans and historians who love to debate the many outstanding players who have appeared in the major leagues.
Download or read book Catcher written by Peter Morris and published by Government Institutes. This book was released on 2009-04-16 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today the baseball catcher is a familiar but uninspiring figure. Decked out in the so-called tools of ignorance, he stolidly goes about his duty without attracting much attention. But it wasn't always that way, as Peter Morris shows in this lively and original study. In baseball's early days, catchers stood a safe distance back of the batter. Then the introduction of the curveball in the 1870s led them to move up directly behind home plate, even though they still wore no gloves or protective equipment. Extraordinary courage became the catcher's most notable requirement, but the new positioning also demanded that the catcher have lightning-fast reflexes, great hands, and a cannon for a throwing arm. With so great a range of needed skills, a special mystique came to surround the position, and it began to seem that a good catcher could single-handedly make the difference between winning and losing.
Download or read book Gil Hodges written by Mort Zachter and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2015-03-01 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In descriptions of athletes, the word “hero” is bandied about and liberally attached to players with outstanding statistics and championship rings. Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life is the story of a man who epitomized heroism in its truest meaning, holding values and personal interactions to be of utmost importance throughout his life—on the diamond, as a marine in World War II, and in his personal and civic life. A New York City icon and, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, one of the finest first basemen of all time, Gil Hodges (1924–72) managed the Washington Senators and later the New York Mets, leading the 1969 “Miracle Mets” to a World Series championship. A beloved baseball star, Hodges was also an ethical figure whose sturdy values both on and off the field once prompted a Brooklyn priest to tell his congregation to “go home, and say a prayer for Gil Hodges” in order to snap him out of the worst batting slump of his career. Mort Zachter examines Hodges’s playing and managing days, but perhaps more important, he unearths his true heroism by emphasizing the impact that Hodges’s humanity had on those around him on a daily basis. Hodges was a witty man with a dry sense of humor, and his dignity and humble sacrifice sometimes masked a temper that made Joe Torre refer to him as the “Quiet Inferno.” The honesty and integrity that made him so popular to so many remained his defining elements. Firsthand interviews of the many soldiers, friends, family, former teammates, players, and managers who knew and respected Hodges bring the totality of his life into full view, providing a rounded appreciation for this great man and ballplayer. Purchase the audio edition.
Download or read book Level Playing Fields written by Peter Morris and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ben-Zion Gold's memoir brings to life the world of a million Jews in pre-World War II Poland who were later destroyed by the Nazis. Warmly recalling the relationships, rituals, observances, and celebrations, Gold evokes the sense of family and faith that helped him through the catastrophe that followed.
Download or read book The Red Sox Century written by Alan Ross and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2004-04-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Voices and Memories The Curse, the Green Monster, the Rocket, the homer. . .Teddy Ballgame, Yan Fenway, Nomar, and Pedro. The Red Sox Century spans 101 years of Boston Red Sox lore that's sure to be a hit with baseball fans everywhere. While the Olde Towne Team has registered more than its fair share of heartaches on the diamond, the vaunted Red and Blue have etched themselves deeply into baseball lore as perennial contenders in the American League. The Red Sox Century is filled with Red Sox stories, some legendary and others less well known. A "You are there" account of all the greats of the Hub's Hose, it is the best seat in the ballpark for the epic milestones in the team's history. Told through the voices of players, coaches, and sports-writers, this tribute also includes an all-time Red Sox team, a special Shrine to No. 9 section on the legendary Ted Williams, and player rosters for every Red Sox World Series team. From Pesky's Pole and the Wall to the Red Seat and those #*?@$! Yankees, this treasury of team lore has it all for Red Sox fans and baseball enthusiasts of all ages. Batter up! It's Bosox time in Beantown.
Download or read book Plie Ball written by Jeffrey M. Katz and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-09-18 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the vaudeville gyrations of New York Giants star pitchers Rube Marquard and Christy Mathewson, to Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra as hoofing infielders in Take Me Out to the Ball Game, to the stage and screen versions of Damn Yankees, the connection between baseball and dance is an intimate, perhaps surprising one. Covering more than a century of dancing ballplayers and baseball-inspired dance, this entertaining study examines the connection in film and television, in theatrical productions and in choreography created for some of the greatest dancers and dance companies in the world.
Download or read book Pie Traynor written by James Forr and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2010-01-18 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Baseball Hall of Famer as of 1948, Pie Traynor was the face of Pittsburgh baseball during the twenties and thirties, when the Pirates were a perennial pennant contender. (They won the Series in 1925.) Traynor was a line-drive hitter who drove in runs as effectively with doubles and triples as most of his peers did launching balls over the fence, and by all accounts he was a dazzling defender. After his playing days ended, Traynor stayed in Pittsburgh, managing the Pirates for five years and working as a popular broadcaster for decades, cementing his place as one of the most popular athletes ever to play in the Steel City.
Download or read book Harry Hooper written by Paul J. Zingg and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Hooper's instinct for knowing where the ball was going to be hit was uncanny. I'm sure, too, that he made more diving catches than any other outfielder in history. With most outfielders the diving catch is half luck; with Hooper, it was a masterpiece of business."--Babe Ruth, on his selection of Harry Hooper for his all-time all-star team Through the figure of Harry Hooper (1887-1974), star of four World Series championship teams and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Paul Zingg describes baseball's transformation from an often rowdy spectacle to a respectable career choice and entertainment institution. Zingg chronicles Hooper's rise from a sharecropper background in California to college and then to the pinnacle of his sport. Boston's leadoff hitter and right fielder from 1909 to 1920, Hooper later played for the Chicago White Sox, managed in the Pacific Coast League, and coached Princeton's team. When he retired from playing in 1925, he held every major fielding record for an American League right fielder. Hooper's diaries, memoirs, and six decades of letters offer a rich and colorful commentary on the evolution of the game, as well as insight into the tensions between a player's public and private lives.
Download or read book Seasons in the Sun written by Roger D. Launius and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The heart of professional baseball, if not its roots, may be found in the American Midwest, especially in Missouri. In Seasons in the Sun, Roger D. Launius offers an excellent overview of the teams, pennant races, trials, and triumphs of the different major-league teams that have resided in the state over the years. Since 1876, when St. Louis became a charter member of the newly formed National League, there have also been other major-league franchises from less well known leagues in St. Louis. The St. Louis major-league baseball experience is not limited to the extraordinary success and fame of the Cardinals, who have won more World Series championships than any other National League team. St. Louis also claims the excellent but short-lived Brown Stockings, the city's first entry into the National League; the American League's Browns, who spent most of their existence in the first half of the twentieth century at the bottom of the standings; the virtually forgotten Terriers of the Federal League in 1914-1915; and the Maroons of the pre-twentieth-century National League.
Download or read book Smart Baseball written by Buddy Bell and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2013-10-22 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating and informative look at what goes on in the psyche of professional baseball players as they play the game, Smart Baseball is a unique chance for baseball fans to see what it takes for ballplayers to succeed at the Major League level. What goes on in a baseball player's mind is critical to the outcome of the game. Since most major leaguers are in peak physical condition, the difference between success and failure on the field often depends on a player's mental approach. Looking at everything from a player's confidence to his leadership skills, instincts, and hunches, Smart Baseball uses entertaining anecdotes to get inside the mind of baseball's greats and show fans what goes through a player's head when he steps onto the field. Smart Baseball presents the knowledge and accumulated experience of one of the few three-generation baseball families--the Bells. In addition, this book is full of insights from more than one hundred of Major League Baseball's greatest players--from Willie Mays to Barry Bonds to Ferguson Jenkins.
Download or read book Roberto Clemente written by Jerry Roberts and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the personal life and baseball career of Roberto Clemente, a Hall of Famer also known for his charitable work.
Download or read book Jews and Baseball written by Burton A. Boxerman and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-10-10 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before Hank Greenberg earned recognition as baseball's greatest Jewish player, Jews had developed a unique, and very close, relationship with the American pastime. In the late nineteenth century, as both the American Jewish population and baseball's popularity grew rapidly, baseball became an avenue by which Jewish immigrants could assimilate into American culture. Beyond the men (and, later, women) on the field, in the dugout, and at the front office, the Jewish community produced a huge base of fans and students of the game. This important book examines the interrelated histories of baseball and American Jews to 1948--the year Israel was established, the first full season that both major leagues were integrated, and the summer that Hank Greenberg retired. Covered are the many players, from Pike to Greenberg, as well as the managers, owners, executives, writers, statisticians, manufacturers and others who helped forge a bond between baseball and an emerging Jewish culture in America. Key reasons for baseball's early appeal to Jews are examined, including cultural assimilation, rebellion against perceived Old World sensibilities, and intellectual and philosophical ties to existing Jewish traditions. The authors also clearly demonstrate how both Jews and baseball have benefited from their relationship.
Download or read book Great Time Coming written by David Falkner and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1996-02-06 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biography of the African-American ball player who broke the practice of racial exclusion in the major leagues.
Download or read book 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read Before They Die written by Ron Kaplan and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2018-08-01 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Propounding his "small ball theory" of sports literature, George Plimpton proposed that "the smaller the ball, the more formidable the literature." Of course he had the relatively small baseball in mind, because its literature is formidable--vast and varied, instructive, often wildly entertaining, and occasionally brilliant. From this bewildering array of baseball books, Ron Kaplan has chosen 501 of the best, making it easier for fans to find just the books to suit them (or to know what they're missing). From biography, history, fiction, and instruction to books about ballparks, business, and rules, anyone who loves to read about baseball will find in this book a companionable guide, far more fun than a reference work has any right to be.
