Augusta National is golf’s Holy Grail. Navigating the azaleas to play the exclusive course that hosts The Masters is a pipe dream for every golfer. Imagine being afforded the opportunity not only to play the course, but to be able to bring your father along for the ride. To complete the priceless fantasy, Jack Nicklaus—“The Golden Bear”—hosts the round. Through fate, coincidence and good fortune, Joe Wessel managed to find a way to make that happen. In White Fang and The Golden Bear, Wessel recounts that special round, how it came about, and what happened on the pristine grounds of Augusta National. With the help of veteran sportswriter Bill Chastain, Wessel's memoir offers the touching story of how the game of golf helped in the development of a special father-son bond and how that relationship grew first throughout Wessel’s childhood, then during his tenure as a football player-turned-coach, and finally once he was a dad himself. This book offers the perfect father-son story for any sports aficionado!
He ran like a crazed jackrabbit, according to one awe-struck sportswriter. Clint Castleberry was already an Atlanta-area football sensation when he arrived at Georgia Tech in 1942, and in one meteoric college season he became a national sports hero as well. He was the first college freshman ever to be voted All-American. At least one Heisman Trophy was all but certain. Though weighing just 155 pounds, he seemed destined to become one of the greatest tailbacks in college football history. But then World War II intervened, and Castleberry became, instead, another young man whose destiny was cut short. His #19 is the only number ever retired in the illustrious history of Georgia Tech football. Bill Chastain weaves Clint Castleberry’s story around other legends of Georgia Tech football--including John Heisman, William Alexander, and Bobby Dodd—to create a glorious portrait of a proud football tradition and America’s Greatest Generation.
Sports journalist Chastain crafts the dramatic story of the 1999 U.S. Open by combining extensive research with interviews of those who made it a unique and compelling event. 8-page color photo insert.
Augusta National is golf’s Holy Grail. Navigating the azaleas to play the exclusive course that hosts The Masters is a pipe dream for every golfer. Imagine being afforded the opportunity not only to play the course, but to be able to bring your father along for the ride. To complete the priceless fantasy, Jack Nicklaus—“The Golden Bear”—hosts the round. Through fate, coincidence and good fortune, Joe Wessel managed to find a way to make that happen. In White Fang and The Golden Bear, Wessel recounts that special round, how it came about, and what happened on the pristine grounds of Augusta National. With the help of veteran sportswriter Bill Chastain, Wessel's memoir offers the touching story of how the game of golf helped in the development of a special father-son bond and how that relationship grew first throughout Wessel’s childhood, then during his tenure as a football player-turned-coach, and finally once he was a dad himself. This book offers the perfect father-son story for any sports aficionado!
Most San Francisco Giants fans have taken in a game or two at AT&T Park, have seen highlights of Willie Mays’ basket catch on YouTube, and were thrilled by the team’s World Series wins in 2010 and 2012, but even the die-hards—those who remember which pitcher started the first home game in San Francisco’s history, have attended a spring training game at Scottsdale Stadium, or know how many home runs Barry Bonds hit into McCovey Cove during his record-setting career—will appreciate this ultimate resource guide for true fans of the San Francisco Giants. For both boosters from the days of Bobby Thomson and recent supporters of Bruce Bochy, Matt Cain, and Buster Posey, these are the 100 things all fans need to know and do in their lifetime. Longtime sportswriter Bill Chastain has collected every essential piece of Giants knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist that leads the way to achieving fan superstardom. This updated World Series edition features the Giants' unforgettable 2012 season, including Cain’s perfect game, Posey’s MVP season, and the team's comeback playoff triumphs before sweeping Detroit.
Payne at Pinehurst presents a fascinating re-telling of the 1999 U.S. Open--considered by many golf experts as the greatest U.S. Open ever played--where Payne Stewart dramatically sunk a fifteen-foot putt on the 18th hole to defeat Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and a host of other golf greats just four months before his untimely death in a bizarre plane crash. It has been called the greatest U.S. Open in the Open's over one hundred-year history. Veteran sports journalist, Bill Chastain, crafts the dramatic story of Payne Stewart's 1999 U.S. Open victory by combining extensive research with interviews of those who made it unique. Payne at Pinehurst shows how Stewart dealt with his stunning U.S. Open defeat in 1998 and planned victory for the championship that meant so much to him. Stewart's conquest of Pinehurst No. 2, while fending off Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, David Duval, and Vijay Singh in an epic battle where every swing held significance, is the stuff of which golf legends are made. From compelling action by the best golfers in the world to the tournament's dramatic conclusion, Payne at Pinehurst shows readers why the 1999 U.S. Open is regarded as the best U.S. Open ever played. "A fresh and concise look at Payne Stewart's victory at the 1999 U.S. Open."--Golf Digest
He ran like a crazed jackrabbit, according to one awe-struck sportswriter. Clint Castleberry was already an Atlanta-area football sensation when he arrived at Georgia Tech in 1942, and in one meteoric college season he became a national sports hero as well. He was the first college freshman ever to be voted All-American. At least one Heisman Trophy was all but certain. Though weighing just 155 pounds, he seemed destined to become one of the greatest tailbacks in college football history. But then World War II intervened, and Castleberry became, instead, another young man whose destiny was cut short. His #19 is the only number ever retired in the illustrious history of Georgia Tech football. Bill Chastain weaves Clint Castleberry’s story around other legends of Georgia Tech football--including John Heisman, William Alexander, and Bobby Dodd—to create a glorious portrait of a proud football tradition and America’s Greatest Generation.
The Olympic Movement began with the Ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Greece on the Peloponnesus peninsula at Olympia, Greece. It is not clear why the Greeks instituted this quadrennial celebration in the form of an athletic festival. The recorded history of the Ancient Olympic Games begins in 776 B.C., although it is suspected that the Games had been held for several centuries by that time. The Games were conducted as religious celebrations in honor of the god Zeus, and it is known that Olympia was a shrine to Zeus from about 1000 B.C. In modern time The Olympic Movement attempts to bring all the nations of the world together in a series of multisport festivals, the Olympic Games, seeking to use sport as a means to promote internationalism and peace. This fifth edition of Historical Dictionary of The Olympic Movement covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on the history, philosophy, and politics of the Olympics, major organizations, the various sports, the participating countries, and especially the athletes. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about The Olympic Movement.
Mention the name Steve Spurrier to sports fans and without a doubt a lively discussion and exchange will ensue. Love him or hate him, opinions about the new coach of the Washington Redskins and University of Florida gridiron commander, rarely rate as ambivalent. Bill Chastain's The Steve Spurrier Story: From Heisman to Head Ballcoach is the first comprehensive biography of the man on the sidelines. Through interviews with family, friends, colleagues, and players, Chastain provides an intimate look at the significant influences and events that have helped shape Steve Spurrier into the extraordinary and oftentimes controversial football coach he is today. When Spurrier was growing up, the slogan "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game ..." was not a tenet that stuck in the Spurrier household, where Spurrier's father, the Reverend Graham Spurrier, liked to say, "if it doesn't matter if you won or lose, why do you keep score?" A talented athlete, made better by his competitive instincts, evolved from this philosophy. Spurrier's competitive instincts led him to performances that qualified him to win the Heisman Trophy while playing quarterback for the University of Florida; a disappointing NFL career followed. Spurrier's competitiveness continued to be his driving force once he began his coaching career. Few coaches in the history of college football impacted the outcome of a contest from the sidelines the way Spurrier did. An offensive genius with a unique feel for the game, Spurrier rubbed opposing coaches and fans the wrong way by winning—and winning big—while the University of Florida program reached heights never before dreamed of by alumni and fans. Complex and commanding, demanding and driven, Steve Spurrier steps up to the National Football League at the helm of the Washington Redskins in 2002. Having made Gator football synonymous with "powerhouse," can the ole Head Ballcoach dominate at the professional level the way he did in college? Although the jury may still be out, he
Payne at Pinehurst presents a fascinating re-telling of the 1999 U.S. Open--considered by many golf experts as the greatest U.S. Open ever played--where Payne Stewart dramatically sunk a fifteen-foot putt on the 18th hole to defeat Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and a host of other golf greats just four months before his untimely death in a bizarre plane crash. It has been called the greatest U.S. Open in the Open's over one hundred-year history. Veteran sports journalist, Bill Chastain, crafts the dramatic story of Payne Stewart's 1999 U.S. Open victory by combining extensive research with interviews of those who made it unique. Payne at Pinehurst shows how Stewart dealt with his stunning U.S. Open defeat in 1998 and planned victory for the championship that meant so much to him. Stewart's conquest of Pinehurst No. 2, while fending off Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, David Duval, and Vijay Singh in an epic battle where every swing held significance, is the stuff of which golf legends are made. From compelling action by the best golfers in the world to the tournament's dramatic conclusion, Payne at Pinehurst shows readers why the 1999 U.S. Open is regarded as the best U.S. Open ever played. "A fresh and concise look at Payne Stewart's victory at the 1999 U.S. Open."--Golf Digest
Hack Wilson’s record 191 RBIs in 1930 may well stand the test of time, and so may the record of his hard-drinking lifestyle. In Hack’s 191, Bill Chastain recreates the most productive offensive season in baseball history while giving readers unique insight into the life of one of baseball’s most fascinating, enigmatic, and yet neglected characters. Drunk or sober, Wilson lived large in Prohibition-era Chicago, where the entertainment and nightclub industries thrived, and Al Capone, a friend of Wilson, reigned as the most publicized gangster in America. Hack finished the 1929 season batting .345 with 39 home runs and 159 RBIs, giving him his fourth consecutive 100-plus RBI season before for misplaying two fly balls in the World Series. Despite losing the Series, the Cubs entered the 1930 season favored again to win the National League pennant. After a slow start and many bad breaks, the team was in first place by the end of August, with Hack Wilson leading the way. Chronicling the ups, downs, and record-setting accomplishments of Lewis R. “Hack” Wilson, this book returns arguably the most hard-living, hard-hitting ballplayer in history to the lineup of the game’s greats.
It began as a rodeo arena with bucking broncos entertaining an annual gathering for the Placer County Fair in Roseville, California, about 10 miles east of Sacramento. The rodeo grounds eventually gave way to a different kind of horsepower in 1955, when a dirt track was built. The original Roseville Speedway later became All American Speedway. The surface was paved in 1972, and three years later, its signature race, the Rose Classic, was born. Future NASCAR drivers Ernie Irvan, Mike Skinner, and more visited the track. The Rose Classic went away in the early 1990s, but NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action lives on each year.
Ringo Starr was the genuine working-class member of the Beatles. Born into poverty in a tiny house in Liverpool's Dingle area, deserted by his father, he suffered years of illness which seriously affected his schoolwork. Despite having all the odds against him, he became one of the most famous people on the planet. The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia completes the Virgin series on the individual Beatles and in the most comprehensive book about Ringo Starr ever written.
The hardest part of a manager's job isn't staying organized, meeting deliverable dates, or staying on budget. It's dealing with people who are too comfortable doing things the way they've always been done and too afraid to do things differently—workers who are, as author Bill Treasurer puts it, too “comfeartable.” Such workers fail to exert themselves any more than they have to, equating “just enough” with good enough. By avoiding even mild challenges, these workers thwart forward progress and make their businesses dangerously safe. To combat this affliction, Treasurer proposes a bold antidote: courage. In Courage Goes to Work, he lays out a comprehensive, step-by-step process that treats courage as a skill that can be developed and strengthened. He Treasurer shows how managers can build workplace courage by modeling courageous behavior themselves, creating an environment where people feel safe taking chances and helping workers deal with fear. To make the concept of courage more concrete, Treasurer identifies what he calls the Three Buckets of Courage: Try Courage, having the guts to take initiative; Trust Courage, being willing to follow the lead of others; and Tell Courage, being honest and assertive with coworkers and bosses. He illustrates each with a variety of vivid real-world examples and offers proven practices for helping your workers keep each bucket full. Aristotle said that courage is the first virtue because it makes all other virtues possible. It's as true in business as it is in life. With more courage, workers gain the necessary confidence to take on harder projects, embrace company changes with more enthusiasm, and extend themselves in ways that will benefit their careers and their company. Courage Goes to Work is the first book to take a systematic approach to developing a vital but overlooked component of business success.
This book provides a roadmap for teaching with graphic novels as an effective and engaging approach to advancing reading comprehension for English Learners in secondary schools. Accessibly synthesizing and presenting existing graphic novel research, the authors walk through how to use graphic novels as a teaching tool to improve student motivation and key reading skills, increase their reading proficiency levels, and bolster their vocabulary. The authors provide curricular ideas for teaching multilingual, gifted, and striving readers, along with methods for developing critical literacy and multimodal comprehension. Applying a universal design approach and including examples, current graphic novel recommendations, and pedagogical strategies, this book is essential reading for pre-service teachers in TESOL and literacy education.
My cathedral is in an isolated wilderness, away from contemporary blight. After several years of marriage my wife describes me as odd. I prefer eccentric. She calls me a cheapskate. I am frugal. I also choose to be different; we put way too much emphasis on the words; Hall of Fame, legend, glamour, champion, celebrity, and famous. I may admire but never idolize, Heroes arent on golf courses nor in stadiums but in the uniforms of our firefighters, military and police officers. There are no idols in my life. Stars are to be revered only in the night sky, not in Hollywood. Rather than sit in a night-club involved in inane conversations I would rather see hummingbirds performing aerobatics, canoe a rogue river, watch a moose cavorting with her calf in a turbulent stream, see the Aurora Borealis fire streamers of color across a darkening sky, study undulating lines of snow geese, buffeted by lofty winds, honking their way to their mysterious destinations. There are yet unseen wonders in nature. My adventurous nature was established when I lived for a month on a Chipewyan reservation in Manitoba hunting seal and bear from a dog sled, using harpoons and bow and arrows, living the way of their ancestors. Frogs in a well have a limited view of the limitless sky. Beyond every horizon there is a horizon. I have canoed the Mackenzie River in Canadas Northwest Territory, the Churchill in Manitoba, Fraser River in British Columbia, the Deschutes in Oregon and the Wolverine in Nunavut. I lust to explore each wilderness on earth where overpopulation has not contaminated the environment. Time away from the fallacies of civilization is regenerative.
After losing his starting position as a college quarterback to a shoulder injury, Nick Gallow has remade himself as a punter. Now in his fifth year in the pros with the Philadelphia Sentinels, Nick spends most of his time on the sidelines. He no longer makes winning plays, and when the team visits a hospital, the sick kids would rather talk to the players they've actually heard of. But Nick is unexpectedly thrust back into the spotlight when he witnesses the murder of the new all-star draft pick on the eve of the team's summer minicamp. Nick has no plans to get involved. Despite the murder, his focus is squarely on an uppity rookie player eyeing his roster spot. But after a second attack hits closer to home and the police go after the wrong man, Nick finds himself driven by the chance to be a hero again. In Hangman's Game, Syken offers a seasoned sportswriter's take on the contemporary culture of football and the will to play on despite the game's toll on the body and mind.
For more than half a century, Big Safari-modified aircraft have performed dangerous and essential missions to collect intelligence, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance, and engage in special operations missions around the globe in the interest of national security. These state-of-the-art aircraft have been flown, operated, and maintained by men and women whose dedication and commitment have made the world a safer place. In The History of Big Safari, author Colonel Bill Grimes, a retired US Air Force officer, presents a history of this program, which has been in existence for more than sixty years. Born as a special acquisition program in 1952, Big Safari has been in a unique position to save lives by rapidly fielding essential systems with a quick-reaction capability to ensure decision makers on the battlefield and at the Pentagon have timely intelligence to plan and execute operations. Grimes shows how, without a special acquisition program such as Big Safari, the nation's ability to react to evolving dangers and threats would be mired in bureaucracy when timely responses are critical. With detailed cutaway illustrations revealing aircraft modifications and mission equipment, The History of Big Safari also includes photographs, sidebars, and anecdotes. It goes behind the scenes with the men and women who participated in the challenging projects and daring missions. It shares the development of cutting-edge technology and special mission aircraft, as well as the global events that necessitated these once-classified programs. Finally, it provides insight into long-veiled projects, operations, and missions that comprise the world under the purview of Big Safari.
Few people know that during the 2016 presidential campaign, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton received a devotion every day. Over the course of those 20 months, Rev. Dr. Bill Shillady—a pastoral friend of Clinton’s—and a small team of other pastors provided the Democratic nominee with spiritual support to stay strong through arguably one of the more contentious elections in American history. Strong for a Moment Like This: The Daily Devotions of Hillary Rodham Clinton includes 365 of the more than 600 devotions written for Secretary Clinton, along with personal notes, portions of her speeches, and headlines that provide context for that day’s devotion. Clinton is writing the foreword, the first time post-election readers will have a chance to hear directly from her about her faith during that time. The book will include: -A foreword from Hillary Rodham Clinton -365 devotions -Selected reflections on the writing by the author -Selected responses from Secretary Clinton -Additional material including a timeline of events, speech excerpts, press selections, and quotes -Gorgeous gift-book packaging: a jacketed hardcover, ribbon, photographs, and a devotion-like interior design. The book’s devotions are organized into 12 themes, such as Forgiveness, Doing Good, Courage, and Women. A portion of the proceeds from the book will go to the United Methodist City Society in New York. As Secretary Clinton said in The New York Times (January 26, 2016), “My study of the Bible, my many conversations with people of faith, has led me to believe the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all your might and to love your neighbor as yourself. And that is what I think we are commanded by Christ to do. And there is so much more in the Bible about taking care of the poor, visiting the prisoners, taking in the stranger, creating opportunities for others to be lifted up, to find faith themselves that I think there are many different ways of exercising your faith.” Strong for a Moment Like This gives readers an inside, personal look at the faith of one of our nation’s most lauded leaders.
In December 2015, the Smithsonian called on rock and roll lovers around the world to collect photos and stories of their favorite moments in music. Fans dug through attics, basements, closets, shoeboxes, digital cameras, and photo albums to post great rock shots to rockandroll.si.edu. From Woodstock to the Whisky a Go Go, from Lollapalooza to the 9:30 Club, and all the rockin' places in between, fans overwhelmingly responded with their favorite rock and roll moments. Iconic artists ranging from the Who to Nirvana to Chuck Berry to the Jimi Hendrix and many more are celebrated here. There are early photographs of everyone from Run-D.M.C. to the Runaways, and contemporary shots of some of the biggest names in music, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Metallica. Presented together, these photographs create a kaleidoscopic history of the artists, the musical styles, the venues, the concerts, and the fans. This is rock and roll as it has never been seen before.
From baseball Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett's untimely death, to pickup soccer games among misfit high-schoolers, to the most obscure nicknames and unusual mascots in college sports, this book collects memorable commentaries from Littlefield's popular NPR sports talk show, as well as many essays.
Longleaf forests once covered 92 million acres from Texas to Maryland to Florida. These grand old-growth pines were the "alpha tree" of the largest forest ecosystem in North America and have come to define the southern forest. But logging, suppression of fire, destruction by landowners, and a complex web of other factors reduced those forests so that longleaf is now found only on 3 million acres. Fortunately, the stately tree is enjoying a resurgence of interest, and longleaf forests are once again spreading across the South. Blending a compelling narrative by writers Bill Finch, Rhett Johnson, and John C. Hall with Beth Maynor Young's breathtaking photography, Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See invites readers to experience the astounding beauty and significance of the majestic longleaf ecosystem. The authors explore the interactions of longleaf with other species, the development of longleaf forests prior to human contact, and the influence of the longleaf on southern culture, as well as ongoing efforts to restore these forests. Part natural history, part conservation advocacy, and part cultural exploration, this book highlights the special nature of longleaf forests and proposes ways to conserve and expand them.
Bill Warren's Keep Watching the Skies! was originally published in two volumes, in 1982 and 1986. It was then greatly expanded in what we called the 21st Century Edition, with new entries on several films and revisions and expansions of the commentary on every film. In addition to a detailed plot synopsis, full cast and credit listings, and an overview of the critical reception of each film, Warren delivers richly informative assessments of the films and a wealth of insights and anecdotes about their making. The book contains 273 photographs (many rare, 35 in color), has seven useful appendices, and concludes with an enormous index. This book is also available in hardcover format (ISBN 978-0-7864-4230-0).
The Show" is the second most widely-read column in Sports Illustrated, after Rick Reilly, who will write one of the book's introductions. Sports Illustrated has over three million subscribers, the third highest magazine circulation in the United States, and is read by 23 million adults each week. The Best Of "The Show" will appeal to fans of Rick Reilly's Life of Reilly and Bill Geist's Fore! Play, both of which were bestsellers. Scheft was the Emmy Award-nominated head monologue writer for David Letterman for 13 years and routinely appears on the air with him. He is a frequent guest on the talk show circuit and on sports radio programs all over the country.
This study looks at groups with an interest in a work of architecture - owners, inhabitants, customers, critics and historians, architecture schools - presents a conceptual framework in which those disparate interests are honoured for providing different perspectives on the building.
Sports talk in America has evolved from small-time barroom banter into a major media smorgasbord that runs 24/7 on TV and radio. With hundreds of billions of dollars generated annually by pro and college teams in major markets nationwide, sports fans across the country are more dedicated than ever to their teams. And when it comes to sports talk -- especially all-sports radio -- it's all about entertainment, information, prognostication, analysis, rankings, and endless discussion. Prominent sports-media figures in each of the three target cities -- Cleveland, Detroit, and Washington, D.C. -- engage in this phenomenon with a compilation of sports lists sure to delight as well as stir up debate within these already-buzzing sports communities. List topics include: What were the most lopsided trades in local sports history? Who were the most overrated athletes to play in our town? What local athlete had the best appearance in TV or film? What was the most heartbreaking loss in local sports history? What was the greatest single play in local sports history? Who are our team's most hated rivals? Plus dozens of "guest" lists contributed by famous local sports and entertainment celebrities. With franchises in three of the four major pro sports -- the Browns (NFL), the Indians (MLB), and the Cavaliers (NBA) -- plus a dedicated following of the Ohio State University athletics, Cleveland's fans are some of the most rabid and knowledgeable in the country, and Bill Livingston and Greg Brinda are the acknowledged authorities on Cleveland-area sports.
Golf has been called the greatest of all games, but it has also been derided by none other than Mark Twain as nothing more than a good walk spoiled. Traditional teaching holds that golf originated in Scotland around the 15th century. However, there is historical evidence of games similar to golf being played in the low countries of Europe back in the 13th century. Over the many centuries of golf's evolution, the balls used have changed greatly, as have the clubs, the holes, the courses, and the entire game itself. The Historical Dictionary of Golf presents a comprehensive history of the game through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, photos, and over 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on places, teams, terminology, and people, including Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sörenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Phil Mickelson, and, of course, Tiger Woods. Appendixes of the members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, the Major Championships of Golf, the International Team Events, and the Professional Tour Awards are also included.
Aging, divorced, and alone, Dorsey McWhorter signs a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Indians, placing him on the launching pad for an apparent career-ending tailspin. As Dorsey confronts his private demons, a simple lesson comes to mind once taught him by Walter Mobley, a former Negro Leagues player and his mentor. Dorsey embraces the lesson, remembering how it worked in the past, and experiences an epiphany. Dorsey suddenly becomes the hottest hitter in baseball, putting together a consecutive games hitting streak that rivals Joe DiMaggios record of 56. In the process he rediscovers the joy of baseball and begins to find happiness off the field. The Streak isnt just a baseball novel, rather a study of one mans struggle to regain a life that didnt turn out as planned. Dorsey McWhorter is a memorable character readers will identify with and pull for because of his offbeat views and, foremost, his heart.
In this book the authors make the case for renewable energy and renewable energy policy. Each chapter begins with an inspiring story by someone working in renewable energy or a related field.
Hack Wilson’s record 191 RBIs in 1930 may well stand the test of time, and so may the record of his hard-drinking lifestyle. In Hack’s 191, Bill Chastain recreates the most productive offensive season in baseball history while giving readers unique insight into the life of one of baseball’s most fascinating, enigmatic, and yet neglected characters. Drunk or sober, Wilson lived large in Prohibition-era Chicago, where the entertainment and nightclub industries thrived, and Al Capone, a friend of Wilson, reigned as the most publicized gangster in America. Hack finished the 1929 season batting .345 with 39 home runs and 159 RBIs, giving him his fourth consecutive 100-plus RBI season before for misplaying two fly balls in the World Series. Despite losing the Series, the Cubs entered the 1930 season favored again to win the National League pennant. After a slow start and many bad breaks, the team was in first place by the end of August, with Hack Wilson leading the way. Chronicling the ups, downs, and record-setting accomplishments of Lewis R. “Hack” Wilson, this book returns arguably the most hard-living, hard-hitting ballplayer in history to the lineup of the game’s greats.
Preeminent baseball analyst Bill James and ESPN.com baseball columnist Rob Neyer compile information on pitches and their origins, nearly two thousand pitchers, and more in this comprehensive guide. Pitchers, the pitches they throw, and how they throw them—they’re the stuff of constant scrutiny, but there's never been anything like a comprehensive source for such information…until now. Bill James and Rob Neyer spent over a decade compiling the centerpiece of this book, the Pitcher Census, which lists specific information for nearly two thousand pitchers, ranging throughout the history of professional baseball. Their guide also includes a dictionary describing virtually every known pitch, biographies of great pitchers who have been overlooked, and top ten lists for fastballs, spitballs, and everything in between. James and Neyer also weigh in on the debate over pitcher abuse and durability, offer a formula for predicting the Cy Young Award winner, and reveal James’s Pitcher Codes. Learn about the origins and development of baseball’s most important pitches and more knuckleballers and submariners than you ever thought existed! Baseball’s action always starts with the pitchers. Begin to understand them and join in on entertaining debates while having a great deal of fun with the history of the game that captivates so many with this one-of-a-kind guide.
Get a glimpse of law enforcement in a small town in Powers Trace III. Set in a fictional town located among the farmlands in southern Georgia, the police force strives to protect and serve with limited funds and second-hand equipment. Like police in most small towns, they get the job done working long hours for low pay. This third and final book in the Powers Trace series takes on the graft and corruption in the County while confronting a resurrection of the bigotry of the old South. Suddenly the old is new again.
100 Things Giants Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die will help fans of San Francisco's team get the most out of being a fan. It takes 128 years of Giants history and distills it to the absolute best and most compelling, identifying in an informative, lively, and illuminating way the personalities, events, and facts every Giants fan should know without hesitation. Numbers with huge impact, such as 44, 762, and 1954; nicknames such as 'Big Mac' and 'the Dominican Dandy'; plus memorable moments like the Basket Catch, singular achievements, and signature calls all highlight the list of 100.
During his playing career, a baseball player's every action on the field is documented--every at bat, every hit, every pitch. But what becomes of a player after he leaves the game? This exhaustive reference work briefly details the post-baseball lives of some 7,600 major leaguers, owners, managers, administrators, umpires, sportswriters, announcers and broadcasters who are now deceased. Each entry tells the date and place of the player's birth, the number of seasons he spent in the majors, the primary position he played, the number of seasons he spent as a manager in the majors (if applicable), his post-baseball career and activities, date and cause of his death, and his final resting place.
In the 1970s, after a decade of stagnant fan interest that seemed to signal the demise of Major League Baseball, the game saw growth and change. In 1972, the players became the first in professional sports to go on strike. Four years later, contractual changes allowed those with six years in the majors to become free agents, leading to an unprecedented increase in salaries. Developments in the play of the game included new ballparks with faster fields and artificial turf, and the introduction of the designated hitter in 1973. Eminent personalities emerged from the dugout, including many African Americans and Latinos. Focusing on the stars who debuted from 1970 through 1979, this book covers the highs and lows of more than 1,300 players who gave fans the most exciting decade baseball has ever seen.
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