INTRODUCTION – Last Time Out Finding the right ending is a problem equally shared by writers, filmmakers, poets, songwriters and, thanks to Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, maybe even baseball players. Unleashing that flawless swing one last time on a dark, nasty fall afternoon in Boston, Williams’ perfect parting shot, launching a majestic home run into the Fenway Park bullpen in his final appearance at the plate, set a standard for baseball farewells that has rarely been equaled. It was as if Williams himself was saying to the game – take that! Gracefully walking away from the game that had been such a crucial part of any major leaguer’s life is a trick managed by only a few. The great Babe Ruth, stuffed into an unfamiliar Boston Braves’ uniform, walked off the field for the last time with no fanfare. Ty Cobb left before his final season was even over, his final bid for a World Series title gone after a Yankees’ sweep of Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s. And so it goes; Bob Gibson cursing out a mediocre player who’d just reached him for a grand slam on his final pitch, the extraordinary Willie Mays stumbling in the outfield in a World Series, Nolan Ryan unable to get out of the first inning of his final start and on and on. Considering that all these men had been so triumphant in the game – just making it to the major leagues is an extraordinary achievement – even for one game - choosing where to go out was intriguing. And of course, the mystique of Williams’ final HR started with the work of an author, the great John Updike, who came to Boston anticipating a romantic liaison. Instead, Updike turned his disappointment into a trip to Fenway Park and brilliantly captured the final moments of a historic career. His legendary New Yorker piece “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,” made a nation reconsider Williams’ career and made me, eventually, come up with the idea for this. True enough, that was where “Last Time Out” started. Working for the local newspaper, I’d had a chance to meet and chat with Updike after his appearance at a Florida State workshop in 2000 and we chatted about his oft-discussed essay. “Looking back,” he said, “I’m still surprised that it was his last game and there was nobody there.” He was right. Fenway Park had just 10,453 fans – and Updike - that September afternoon. On the way home, I wondered about how other great players had left the game. I remembered Babe Ruth had hit three homers in a game, was it his finale? And, teary-eyed, I remembered Carl Yastrzemski’s last game in Boston, his trot around the field, slapping hands with watery-eyed Fenway Faithful. What about Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson…I’d have to look. And did. Times have changed, of course, since Williams’ finale in 1960. The final games of these recent stars, like so many other events in professional sports, have become important. Sometimes they become a scripted, carefully planned, media circus like departures of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, David Ortiz and a few others. Sometimes, they just leave. Take a spin through YouTube, for example, and you can find video documentation of all sorts of farewells to the game. But in most cases, you might see video but not the stories. In this, the sequel to my original book, I’ve looked back at the departures of some of the most memorable players in my lifetime, all of whom I watched play, some of whom I even got to interview in my 25-year career as a sportswriter. There are even a few personal moments sprinkled in. And, as my connection to the game has deepened in a way I couldn’t have anticipated, only dreamed about, I had another renewed interest in our National Pastime. My son, the kid you see leaning on my shoulder on the back jacket of my original book, is now 28. After a long, sometimes bumpy stint in the minor leagues, is a major-league baseball player in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization. John made his big-league debut in Chicago a week before my birthday in 2020. I share the story of his big-league debut in the concluding chapter. I’m hoping that his final at-bat is a few years away. As a writer and fan, what has been truly fascinating in the intervening 16 years since the first publication of “Last Time Out” is suddenly how accessible everything is. Writing and researching that original book pre-Internet, I remember spending hour after hour in Florida State’s Strozier Library, eyes blurry from the trusty microfilm machine, sifting through ancient box scores, game stories and newspaper columns. For this edition, almost all the material was found online or in books I had in my own library. Enjoy!
Most sports fans know that Ted Williams ended his major league career with style, swatting a home run in his final at bat. But what about Babe Ruth? Ty Cobb? Joe DiMaggio? Willie Mays? How did some of baseball's greatest players bow out of The Game? Last Time Out answers that question as it examines how the greatest players in baseball history left the game they once ruled. The stories of these men and how they finished their careers, never collected anywhere before now, show another side of the men whose achievements on the field made them legends. After hours and hours of research, through biographies, microfilm, magazines, and memories, award-winning sportswriter John Nogowski culled the stories of the final games of 25 of The Game's greatest athletes-Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Dizzy Dean, Satchel Paige, Carlton Fisk, Bob Feller, Joe Morgan, and Carl Yastrzemski are among those featured. This impressive work recounts the circumstances surrounding these final games and puts you in a box seat to witness and sense the moment as these glorious careers ceased, most often with little fanfare. Whether it be Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lou Gehrig, Pete Rose, or Cal Ripken, Jr., Last Time Out beautifully captures in words and photographs the essence of these players' last time in uniform and celebrates the magic of the game these famed players mastered and loved.
Nearly all of the Gadsden County's student body is black and considered economically disadvantaged, the highest percentage of any school district in Florida. Fewer than 15 percent perform at grade level. An idealistic new teacher at East Gadsden High, John Nogowski saw that the Department of Education's techniques would not work in this environment. He wanted to make an impact in his students' lives. In a room stacked with battered classics like A Raisin in the Sun and To Kill a Mockingbird, he found 30 pristine, "quarantined" copies of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Abused by an alcoholic father, neglected by his own community, consigned to a life of privation and danger. Wouldn't Huck strike a chord with these kids? Were he alive today, wouldn't he be one of them? Part lesson plan, part memoir, Nogowski's surprising narrative details his experience teaching Twain's politically charged satire of American racism and hypocrisy to poor black teens.
When Columbia Records finally decided to open up the voluminous Bob Dylan vaults, unleashing thousands of hours of long-sought-after, oft-rumored, unreleased material, it was hard to keep up. Included in the release were six CDs of Blood On The Tracks outtakes, six CDs of the complete Basement Tapes, 10 CDs of Rolling Thunder Revue live material, the six extraordinary CDs of The Cutting Edge from Dylan's game-changing 1965-66 sessions, and a stunning 36 CD release of Dylan's stormy 1966 world tour that some say changed the face of popular music. It is all explored here. This updated examination of Dylan's five-decade career provides a comprehensively analyzes his writing and recording history and the historical impact of Dylan's prolific creative output. It features critical commentary on every song and album, including many rare bootleg recordings and the recent new discoveries from Columbia Records. Later chapters also list and discuss Dylan's numerous appearances in film, in literature, on radio, and on television. Including his Nobel Prize speech and lecture, an extensive bibliography of books on Dylan old and new, and a brand-new introduction with updated Billboard charts, this is the ultimate book on Bob.
Most sports fans know that Ted Williams ended his major league career with style, swatting a home run in his final at bat. But what about Babe Ruth? Ty Cobb? Joe DiMaggio? Willie Mays? How did some of baseball's greatest players bow out of The Game? Last Time Out answers that question as it examines how the greatest players in baseball history left the game they once ruled. The stories of these men and how they finished their careers, never collected anywhere before now, show another side of the men whose achievements on the field made them legends. After hours and hours of research, through biographies, microfilm, magazines, and memories, award-winning sportswriter John Nogowski culled the stories of the final games of 25 of The Game's greatest athletes-Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Dizzy Dean, Satchel Paige, Carlton Fisk, Bob Feller, Joe Morgan, and Carl Yastrzemski are among those featured. This impressive work recounts the circumstances surrounding these final games and puts you in a box seat to witness and sense the moment as these glorious careers ceased, most often with little fanfare. Whether it be Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lou Gehrig, Pete Rose, or Cal Ripken, Jr., Last Time Out beautifully captures in words and photographs the essence of these players' last time in uniform and celebrates the magic of the game these famed players mastered and loved.
When Columbia Records finally decided to open up the voluminous Bob Dylan vaults, unleashing thousands of hours of long-sought-after, oft-rumored, unreleased material, it was hard to keep up. Included in the release were six CDs of Blood On The Tracks outtakes, six CDs of the complete Basement Tapes, 10 CDs of Rolling Thunder Revue live material, the six extraordinary CDs of The Cutting Edge from Dylan's game-changing 1965-66 sessions, and a stunning 36 CD release of Dylan's stormy 1966 world tour that some say changed the face of popular music. It is all explored here. This updated examination of Dylan's five-decade career provides a comprehensively analyzes his writing and recording history and the historical impact of Dylan's prolific creative output. It features critical commentary on every song and album, including many rare bootleg recordings and the recent new discoveries from Columbia Records. Later chapters also list and discuss Dylan's numerous appearances in film, in literature, on radio, and on television. Including his Nobel Prize speech and lecture, an extensive bibliography of books on Dylan old and new, and a brand-new introduction with updated Billboard charts, this is the ultimate book on Bob.
Nearly all of the Gadsden County's student body is black and considered economically disadvantaged, the highest percentage of any school district in Florida. Fewer than 15 percent perform at grade level. An idealistic new teacher at East Gadsden High, John Nogowski saw that the Department of Education's techniques would not work in this environment. He wanted to make an impact in his students' lives. In a room stacked with battered classics like A Raisin in the Sun and To Kill a Mockingbird, he found 30 pristine, "quarantined" copies of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Abused by an alcoholic father, neglected by his own community, consigned to a life of privation and danger. Wouldn't Huck strike a chord with these kids? Were he alive today, wouldn't he be one of them? Part lesson plan, part memoir, Nogowski's surprising narrative details his experience teaching Twain's politically charged satire of American racism and hypocrisy to poor black teens.
The incredible, never-before-told story of Augie Donatellia man fellow umpires consider a legend. Coalmines Bombers and Baseball Emmy Award-winning sportswriter/producer John Bacchia shares the incredible, never-before-told story of Augie Donatellione of Major League Baseballs unsung men in blue. A coal miner from Bakerton, Pennsylvania, Donatelli served his country as a tail gunner aboard a B-17 and found his lifes calling in the bleak con?nes of a Nazi prison camp. When Army Air Corps Sta? Sergeant Donatelli umpired softball games to boost morale for his fellow airmen at Stalag Luft VI, little did he know he was taking ?edgling steps towards becoming one of the most respected umpires in baseball history. However, prior to the end of the war, he would be subjected to a brutal black march across war-torn Europe before orchestrating a daring escape. Less than a decade after serving his country, Donatelli found himself at the pinnacle of his professionumpiring in the 1955 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. Hardened by his war experiences and his years of working in the coal mines, Donatelli hustled on the baseball diamond as if his life depended on it. He gave his heart and soul to the game he loved. Yet despite ?nding his dream occupation, Donatelli voluntarily put his career and livelihood in jeopardy, as he and his fellow umpires, Shag Crawford, Jocko Conlan, Al Barlick, and others, spearheaded the formation of the ?rst umpires union, the Major League Umpires Association. Cover Photo: Yankee manager Casey Stengel and Augie Donatelli standing toe-to-toe during an exhibition game, April 13th, 1951. Copyright Bettman/CORBIS
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